Why We Camp
by SugarBeatAngel
Summary: Have you ever wondered why people go camping? Roxas had to find out the hard way, and now not only does he have to pay for his father's mistakes but he has to deal with a bunch of nut-jobs on top of it. T for language and violence. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1: This is NOT a Prologue

So you all have Carhilwenne to thank for me submitting this story sooner than I had intended. Normally I don't like to have multiple stories going on at once (especially about the same general theme) but she said I should do it and I like to please people. SO, here ya go!

This story is set in modern day Carson City, Nevada. Lovely place. If you ever get the chance to visit, do it! This whole story is told from Roxas' PoV. AND I know a lot of you… if you don't know a lot about Nevada other than it has Las Vegas and a whole-lotta desert, you'll read the line about a beach and go "What Beach?" Ha ha. But you know, Lake Tahoe. BEAUTIFUL! And yes, they have several beaches there. Any other questions you may have about Nevada or Carson City, ask away. Although I tried to be as informative as was necessary. I just figured SOMEBODY would be like "Wait, Nevada isn't by the ocean!" So yeah…

There's a long story behind the original idea of this which is sadly a true one that I won't get into details about other than to say I was very young and went on some strange unannounced road trips for some reason with my mother and her boyfriend at the time. I always wondered if the reasoning was something like this…

Anyhow, enjoy!

* * *

Have you ever wondered why people go camping?

I mean, if you really think about it, why would _anybody_ go camping?

No, I'm not talking about loading your dirt bikes and quads up into your toy trailer and hitching it up to a truck so you can drive to the beach or the mountains and stay in a completely safe and civilized campground with running water and electrical hook ups.

I'm talking about in the dirt, in a tent, hiking half the way there in the middle of the woods with no campground and no sign of civilization to speak of for miles around, for weeks on end and only the clothes and food you could carry on your back to tide you over till you went home.

Why? Why would _anyone_ do that?

Sure, there are those douche bags that will tell you it is the only _real_ way to camp. They're kinda like those ass holes on television that purposely put themselves in dangerous situations to prove their survival skills. They'll tell you that only the most manly and robust of wilderness lovers can brave the harsh conditions and live the way our ancestors lived centuries ago. Really?

I can tell you right now, our ancestors did _not_ live in tents and they certainly didn't bring various boxes of Little Debbie snack packs along with them.

So, those people are full of shit.

There's a reason people go camping, and I can tell you why if you'll believe me.

Somehow, somewhere, those idiots got themselves into some really deep shit.

Whether it be getting caught counting cards at a casino in Vegas or being found fraudulent by the IRS, there's always some form of truly deep shit that these people get themselves into. And for some reason, they think the best way to avoid it is by laying low for a few weeks.

And lord knows there isn't a hotel or campground in the whole western U.S. that accepts anything but credit cards. Don't you love modern technology? So what other choice do these idiots have but to uproot their entire families regardless of time of year and drag them out into the damned, entirely unpleasant woods for a three week stay? Well, facing their mistakes is always an option, but they don't see it that way.

For as long as I can remember, my dad would just pull me and my sister out of school, pack up as much non-perishable food as possible, and drag us along with whatever girl he was dating at the time to the most remote location he could find.

It was miserable and I hated it and I never once understood why.

Now…

Now I understand everything.

As I laid there on the cold linoleum of the kitchen floor with blood trickling annoyingly close to the corner of my eye, I listened to the phone conversation of the bastard that did this to me and I began to truly understand for the first time just what kind of man my father was. He was a pathetic, weak and sad excuse for a human being. He put himself first. He put me and my sister in unbelievable danger for his own selfish pleasures. He knew this would happen and yet he agreed to let me stay home by myself anyhow.

The room was spinning and I was so pissed that I could have busted my own teeth out, that's how hard I was trembling in fury. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open with all the angry tears fighting their way to the surface. And then I heard the sound of a phone shut off, then silence. The snaky bastard that had clubbed me in the head had finished his phone conversation. At first there was silence but it was quickly followed by the sound of a board creaking and then footsteps in the kitchen. I tried to turn my head to look in the direction I knew he was approaching from but I couldn't really move. I felt a hand on the scruff of my neck. It grabbed roughly and yanked me into a sitting position and for the first time since I naïvely opened the front door, I could see clearly the face of the man who attacked me.

He was a young man, likely in his mid-late twenties. He had these piercing green eyes and a nest of wild red hair pulled back by a small black band. Not the kind of red you see on those ginger kids, but real _vibrant_ red. For the first time, I noticed the two really ridiculous tattoos he had on his face just under his eyes. At the time, I couldn't help but think he must've been really drunk and young when he got that bullshit permanently slapped onto his face. He had this cocky grin that I wanted to wipe right off, but that would've been stupid and my intelligence outweighs my pride. He opened his mouth to speak, that same sarcastic tone that I'd heard moments earlier now dripping out in my direction.

"Well, kid. I've got some good news for ya." He started with a light snicker. "You're not going to die here today."

Oh good. Oh thank you. Really? Give me a break. How was I supposed to react to that? At that point I don't think I truly realized the severity of the situation. I figured for what my father had done, breaking into his girlfriend's house and roughing up his son might be enough retribution for now. In hindsight, I can't help but laugh at how naïve I really was. I only stared at the man in anger as he continued to droll on.

"Get up." He motioned and took a step back from me. "Pack some clothes because we've got a lot of business ahead of us and I don't feel like dawdling around here."

I stared up at him in confusion, not even really trying to will my limbs into movement. There was no way I was going to do what this bastard said willingly. I opened my mouth to speak to him, my voice barely a whisper thanks to the sore throat I had. "I can't move."

Despite the low volume of my raspy rebuttal, he must've heard me. Either that or he just didn't care to wait any longer because he swooped down and slung me over his shoulder offering only to say, "Oh well. I don't have time to sit here and play games." He carted me out of the house, thankfully not in too bad of condition, I noted. The last thing I wanted was to come back and have to explain to my dad's new girlfriend why we had only lived with her a week and already her home was trashed. Of course, that thought occurred to me when I still believed I'd be returning back there.

He stepped with a speed almost unnatural for a man carrying a dead weight teenager over one shoulder, to an old black Cadillac parked in front of the house. I was shocked to say the least when I got slung into the trunk of the boat like luxury car during broad daylight with a few neighbors out, even watering their lawns but paying us no mind. I tried to scream, but that damned sore throat that had caused me to skip the camping trip of an undetermined length was preventing any real sound other than a strange curdling. He slammed the trunk shut. It was black. A door opened. A door shut. Voices conversed. The engine started. We started to move…

As I laid in the dark of the trunk of the car I still didn't quite grasp just what exactly was happening to me. All I knew was that every time the car came to a stop I would roll to the front of the trunk and slam my head against the spare tire. After a few episodes of that, I relented to just pass out.


	2. Chapter 2: 5

So, I'm sorry if anybody thought this was going to be a pairing fic. It isn't. I mean, yeah it could easily be, but it isn't going to be.

Its just Roxas, meeting these people in a different setting with a lot more humor involved than the game allowed.

Not sure I wanna include Xion, still. I recognize her as a character but there's something about her I just don't like. And no, it isn't the typical "SHE GAWT IN DA WAI OF MAH AKUROKU!" or "zOMG SHE BE A SUE!" or anything like that. I just didn't feel invested in her character like I did the others. There really wasn't one thing about her that I liked. She was about as purposeful as if they'd put a banana in the Organization and gave it a keyblade.

So sorry to any Xion fans out there. I don't hate her. I just didn't really care for her and her "I can't do anything, I'm useless. Roxas, do all my stuff for me so I don't get in trouble while I do absolutely nothing for you in return except try to kill you." bull shit that much. I felt nothing for her plight. *shrug*

Ok, rant over.

I have no update pattern for this so I guess I'll do it when I feel like it.

Enjoy?

* * *

I woke up somewhere dark. It was cold and for a moment I thought I might still be in the trunk. I was sitting up, however, and duct taped to a chair. Most definitely not the trunk.

I heard voices all around me but I didn't want to open my eyes. Not yet.

"Damn, Ax. You could've cut the kid some slack…" Said a voice, almost too boyish to even register as threatening in my mind. It was followed by a horrible witch cackle.

"And you wonder why you never get sent out on retrieval. You're too much of a pussy!" It was a woman, the one who'd cackled. Damn, she sounded like a real bitch.

"Enough." A different voice interjected. This wasn't the boy or the woman and it wasn't my attacker either. Shit. Just how many people were involved, I had no clue. It was at this point I think I realized how much trouble I was really in though. I decided to dare a glance. Big mistake.

"Well, well…" I cringed. But it was too late, I'd been spotted by a man with an eye patch. Seriously, an eye patch? How cliché can you get? He leered down at me and as he continued to speak, I realized he was the other voice I'd heard in the car earlier. "Look who decided to wake up and join the party."

I opened my eyes then, too late to pretend to still be out. I pulled my head up straight and looked at the faces staring back at me. The woman who'd mouthed off earlier was grinning from ear to ear and I think that was the first time I've ever actually _feared_ a woman. "About damn time!" She shouted, inching closer to my face. I drew back as far as my constricting position allowed. She continued talking, the disgusting smell of her far too minty-fresh breath flirting with my gag reflex. "We've been waiting forever and I want to play."

"No way, Larxene." The douche who'd bashed me in the head retorted. "You know the rules. He's not the real target so there isn't going to be any playing around." He winked at me then with that same cocky smirk and I didn't know if it was meant to put me at ease or not, all I know was that it didn't. I looked at the other two faces standing further behind the three looming over me.

There was a guy, probably no more than five years my senior. He had this ridiculous mohawk-mullet thing going on and it was starting to get harder for me to really take these guys seriously, despite them having successfully beat and kidnapped me. Then of course, that didn't mean shit. It isn't hard to kidnap a teenager these days, just read a newspaper and you'll see.

I instantly knew he was the one that had been called a pussy by the woman because the other guy, despite his totally retarded blue hair, looked like he was already prepared to tear me limb from limb. He didn't seem like the guy to take shit from anybody, especially some mouthy broad.

I watched them quietly, as they seemed at a loss of what to do with me. They turned away from me and mumbled quietly amongst themselves before the weirdo with the eye patch spun back around to face me. "Do you know why you're here?" He asked calmly. How could I not? That stupid redhead had gone on and on about it for fifteen minutes straight to whoever he'd been talking to on the phone. My dad owed them money. Lots of money, and he was going to pay it back one way or another.

Still, if I played dumb, maybe they'd let me go. Stupid thought but it was worth a try. I opened my mouth to speak but my voice was still raspy from that damned sore throat. "I have no idea."

That bitch of a woman known now as Larxene glared down at me with a wicked smile. "Aww… Is the poor baby's throat all sore from screaming and crying?" She said in a mocking baby-doll voice. I've never wanted to punch a woman before in my life. Not until that moment.

The redhead who I only knew as "Ax" spoke up in my defense again. "Cut it out Larxene. He was talking like that before I even whacked him. He's probably just sick." This guy, I didn't understand at all. One moment he's taking a baseball bat to my temple and the next he's sticking up for me to the rest of these… these freaks.

This time I was a bit more grateful for his intervention. My hands were duct taped to a chair so there wasn't much I could do for self defense and if that woman kept on I know I wouldn't be able to prevent myself from mouthing back. I'm still fifteen after all. I have no self control. "Why am I here?" I asked, still playing blissfully unaware to the current predicament. "Did one of the guys from school put you up to this?"

They were struggling to hear me, I could tell, but the guy with the eye patch seemed to hear me well enough to reply. "Sorry kid, this ain't no grade school prank. Facts are, your daddy owes us a lot of money. He's evaded our grasp for years but he slipped up. Unfortunately, you got wrapped up in the middle of all this but that's only your father's fault. If he'd paid us back earlier this would've never happened." He shrugged after saying this, practically implying that it was all my father's fault. And mostly, yeah it was. But they still made the decision to club me in the face and drag me here. Let's not go pointing fingers…

"What did he owe you for?" I had to ask, though I already knew. Loaned money for gambling purposes. My dad had a bad gambling habit. He gambled everything, our house, our jewelry, our college funds and apparently his own kids' lives. Such a great guy, my old man.

That was why when I was five, my mother left. That was why from the time I was seven and on, we had to move from place to place and school to school. That was why my dad would go from vulnerable young woman to vulnerable young woman, convincing her that he loved her and that she should let us all move in after knowing us for only a few short weeks. That was why we'd go camping for weeks on end. All of it was for this very stupid reason.

"He had a rather large gambling debt," The man with the eye patch started in reply. "and the only way he could get out of it was to borrow money. You were probably too young to remember, but you'd already lost your home and most of your belongings. Your father was in deep with a mafia run gambling ring and he needed a quick fix. So we offered it to him on the terms that he'd pay it back with interest."

I nodded slowly. There wasn't much else I could do and it was clear my oblivious act wasn't inspiring sympathy. "So I have to pay back his debt."

"Not quite." The redhead offered in response. "You're more like, collateral. Now that we have something of value to your father, he'll have no choice but to pay us back."

Collateral. I had to laugh. No, really it was sad, but I couldn't keep from bursting into laughter at this thought. Obviously they did not know enough about my father to know that he'd never pay them back. He'd just as soon let me die than have to pay them a penny.

They must've thought I was insane at this point because they all stared at me with wide eyes as I wheezed through my laughter. But I couldn't stop the tears either, which sucked because the last thing I wanted was to cry in front of these jerks.

After a moment the laughter subsided and I was reduced to just crying into my lap. The redhead and the guy with the eye patch knelt down to my level and I knew they wanted to know why I'd just responded like I had. "You may as well just kill me…" I started, rasping. The looks on their faces fell from confusion to some strange form of pity or sorrow as if they already knew what I was going to say next. "My dad isn't going to pay you back. You've kidnapped me for nothing."


	3. Chapter 3: Fags and Badasses

Alrighty, chapter 3 already. This story is flowing a lot more easily than the others so that's why it is getting updated more frequently.

And I'd like to point out that despite it being stated otherwise in this chapter, these guys are NOT a mafia. They're more like a bunch of douches that fancy themselves a mafia when really, they're just a bunch of misfits calling themselves a family/mafia and doing illegal things. Definitely a difference.

Also, I'd like to pimp out a fic for a friend of mine. Why don't you head on over to Brinkmess' page and give her fic "Meanings" a read? I've only got to read the first chapter but I'm liking what I'm reading so far and I highly suggest that if you're in the mood for an AU KH fic, pop on over there and give it a look-see. (And encourage her NOT to do Mpreg :D )

Other than please enjoy this chapter!

* * *

A week had gone by… maybe. But I wasn't keeping track of time. That redhead, the man I now knew to be called Axel, had been put in charge of taking care of me. Or so it seemed. Maybe he did it out of the kindness of his big heart, which is a joke of course, but I guess you can't read sarcasm.

I'd been moved to so many different locations in that time that I really didn't even know if we were in the same city anymore. All I knew was that some time during the day, Axel would come and try to bring me food. Well, he probably perceived it as food but it was nothing but slop to me.

Not to sound like a snob or anything, but fast food turns my stomach.

He'd come in with that big grin of his that always pissed me off and wave around a greasy brown paper bag from one fast food restaurant or another. He'd plop down in front of me and empty the contents of the bag onto a big paper plate proudly as though he was doing me a huge favor by bringing me this junk. Then he'd yak and yak away about stupid shit he'd read in the newspaper that day and asked me what I thought of it as if we were old friends and I owed him a response.

Let's not pretend to like each other. After all, being hit in the head with a baseball bat is hard to forgive.

But I suppose he was trying to make me feel more comfortable and I appreciated that much.

He wasn't the only one to visit me though. The eye patch guy, his name was Xigbar, would pop in from time to time. He'd perch himself somewhere in the room and explain to me how they'd tried to contact my father but there was no luck yet. No surprise.

And sure, I could've told them where to find him. There were only a handful of places he liked to camp, he wouldn't be hard to find. I had my sister to think about though. I didn't want anything bad to happen to her because of that prick.

The other faces I'd seen that first day would pop in occasionally. That guy with the faggy mohawk-mullet hair was known as Demyx. He'd poke his head in every once in a while, usually with a piece of red vine hanging out of his mouth, and give me some spew about how I should just relax and treat this like a vacation.

Yeah, some vacation. Sitting in a room with no idea where I was and having nothing but junk food to eat and the company of apparent psychopaths was like my dream come true.

Admittedly, it wasn't all bad. By the end of the week the moving around stopped and I was in one stable place. This time I was given a room with an actual bed and a toilet room attached to it. For the first time in a while, I was able to bathe.

That was when I met everyone else.

I was trying to get some sleep. I didn't know what time of day it was thanks to the boarded up windows, but judging by how awake everyone else seemed when they barged into my room, it had to be daytime.

The first five faces where there. Faces I'd reluctantly grown accustomed to. But there were seven more.

Saïx, the guy with the blue hair introduced them. "This is Xaldin," he said motioning to a tall man with some bitchin dreads. Immediately I knew not to fuck with this guy. He just had that look about him. "and to his left is Marluxia." He continued. I turned my gaze to a slender yet muscular looking man with pink hair. Seriously. No joke. Fucking pink. And I thought what you're probably thinking _right now_. And had it not been for Larxene draping over him like a cheap coat I'd still think it.

My gaze fell to the others, a boy not much older looking than me with that scene kid style hair. "That's Zexion," Saïx continued down the line of introductions. I could only really nod in my half slumber. "Lexaeus," He said calmly, and I looked up at the giant man towering above the rest. Also noted, not to be messed with.

"We can introduce ourselves, thank you." A man in the crowd inserted snarkily. He stepped forward, his long blond hair wrapping to the tight frame of his face as he stopped moving. "My name is Vexen." He said in a stale tone. I knew for sure I wouldn't like this man. He seemed as rude and self absorbed as Larxene.

"Don't mind him, mate." A British man said cheerfully. He stepped forward and shook my hand vigorously and I had to admit, he seemed to be the most likable of the new faces so far. "Name's Luxord," He added with a bright, facial hair outlined smile. "Good to have you."

"Have me?" I asked with my brow furrowed. My voice had become a bit more audible in the past days as my throat had gotten better. "As if this is some sort of retreat for me."

"We're sorry about that." Said a man stepping forward with grayish/silverish hair and tanned skin. He didn't look old enough to be naturally graying and I couldn't help but wonder just how he got his hair that color. He continued to speak and I decided to listen. "My name is Xemnas and I suppose you could call me the _Don_ of this little family of ours." Family? I stifled my laughter. Then again, biology doesn't make a family. I knew that first hand.

"We'd like to welcome you, Roxas." He continued. My mouth fell agape. Alright, surely this was a joke. Welcome me as though I was guest here? These people were obviously delusional. I was kidnapped. Not quite the same thing as a guest.

"Welcome me?" I stared at the faces around me. Some smiling, some disgruntled looking. "What do you mean?

Xemnas continued speaking. "Welcome you into our family, of course. We need someone like you here with us. If you stay, we'll forgive your father's debt and you can live in all the luxury you never had the chance to enjoy before."

I stared at the floor in thought. Really, this was all just too much. One moment I'm a prisoner and the next, they're inviting me to join their so called family. I didn't want this, but anything was better than a bullet in the brain. Still, I had to refuse at first. Maybe they'd still let me go back.

Did I even want to go back?

"And if I refuse?" I asked calmly.

There was an eerie silence over the room in that instant. I couldn't hear anything. Not the breaths of the others, not even the pounding of my own heart. Xemnas closed his eyes and smiled slowly before opening both his eyes and his mouth to speak. "Refusal is not an option, Roxas." His voice was cold enough to inspire shivers down my spine and I knew in that moment all I could do was agree.

"Alright." I muttered. I raised my gaze to meet the man's burnt sienna eyes and nodded quickly. "I'll stay here and work for your family."

"No, not work for." Xemnas injected with that same cold smile. "Be a part of."

I nodded again. "Alright. I'll be a part of it. What do I have to do?"


	4. Chapter 4: Strangers With Candy

Alrighty, chapter four already.

Not much to say, everything in this chapter is pretty self-explanatory. We get a new character and I'm sorta thinking that if I'm gonna have this one, I might as well include Xion.

I can't make any promises though. Like previously stated, I have my qualms about including Xion. This character, however, is one that I absolutely adore.

Meh, we'll see.

Also, in the future, if you're having trouble with one of my chapters loading, please PM me about it as soon as you see it. The past couple times I've uploaded chapters, they haven't loaded for some people. Sometimes they say that it takes up to 15 minutes for a new chapter to appear on the site. Sometimes it says the file is not found. Whatever the problem is, let me know asap and I'll fix it. FF has been hella retarded lately doing that to not only my fics, but Brinkmess' as well. Being as I don't go and read my own fics, I don't notice that it does this so I would appreciate you letting me know. Thanks, dolls.

Enjoy!

* * *

"The first thing we have to do is get into this house." Axel said with a smirk. "The manner in which we do it doesn't matter, as long as we're in and out before the police arrive. Living in the city gives us an advantage, since it takes the police an upwards of twenty minutes to respond to a breaking and entering during the day." He took a gloved hand and smashed in the window. "Normally the ideal way is to kick down the front door since we've already established that nobody is coming to answer our knocks. However, there were too many witnesses out and about."

I furrowed my brow in disbelief at this statement. Witnesses certainly didn't stop him from slinging me over his shoulder and throwing me into the trunk of Xigbar's car, though I suppose that is all trivial now. I followed him and Zexion into the house through the window, careful not to cut myself on the glass. "What now?" I asked, almost afraid to know.

"Now we go through some things." Zexion answered calmly. "Look for jewelry, money, anything of value. We're lucky if we find any. These people generally pawn anything valuable as soon as they get it. It isn't likely we'll find anything, but then again, that isn't the real point of this."

"What is the real point of this, then?" I asked. Really, it was a stupid question. I knew the answer. Fear. Let the person know they couldn't escape. Not much is more violating that a home invasion. It really is an uncomfortable feeling.

"The goal is to let the person know we can do anything at any time." Axel answered with a smile. "And even though it doesn't seem like it, this really is for their benefit." I shot him a look and opened my mouth to speak but he must've read my mind because he began to explain. "These people know they owe us money. They know we plan to collect. It is our hope that in breaking into their house and rummaging through their things, it'll put things into a real perspective for them. None of us ever wants to have to do this. Really."

Zexion nodded in agreement with Axel and interjected his own comments. "People who borrow money from us tend to have one trait in common. They never really intend to pay us back. They treat the situation carelessly which is really terrible for their family or friends. Our goal is to inspire compassion for their loved ones. To set them on the track to the realization that what they're doing is wrong and dangerous and is seriously hurting those close to them."

"See, kid…" Axel said as he began to empty out drawers from a desk onto the floor. "It isn't that different from your dad. We would've loved to teach him a lesson and had him better himself as a person. It really is sad that we ended up having to kidnap you to teach him a lesson. One he still may have not learned."

I looked to him then. I couldn't fight the sadness welling up inside of me. Knowing there were other kids out there, others just like me, how could I not be sad? "How many of these people actually learn their lesson? How many happy endings have there really been?"

Axel paused then and looked to Zexion who seemed just as deep in thought as the redhead. If I didn't know any better, I'd say the two of them were withholding something from me. Axel then forced a smile and looked to me. "Well, look at it this way," He started. "having you become part of our family has kinda been like a happy ending. Right?"

I nodded to shut him up. I didn't need to hear any more. These assholes who put their families in danger for whatever reason never learned their lesson. That was obvious by the look on Axel and Zexion's faces. There were other kids out there probably a lot younger than me that were put in this very dangerous situation, and although I liked to believe I had good faith in these douche bags, the truth was I really didn't know if they were above killing children just to prove their point.

I began shuffling through some things just out of anger that the person who lived in this house willingly put their loved ones in the line of fire. I started into the one bedroom in the house and kicked the door open. I flicked the light switch but it was clear this idiot didn't pay their electric bill.

That money was likely used for drugs or a gambling habit, or even for a sex addiction. Something not too uncommon in Nevada, even for a place like Carson City.

I began rummaging through some drawers when I heard a small whimper. I froze in my movements and turned my head slowly to face the bed where the noise had come from. I could see a small face staring out from under the bed at me and my heart sank. This was exactly the sort of thing I never wanted to happen.

I stepped over to the bed and knelt down to peer beneath. My heart sank again.

Four eyes stared up at me from frightened faces. One was a girl about my age. I didn't recognize her so she must've been from Pioneer High, the "alternate high school for _troubled_ kids." Highly likely, judging by the neighborhood we were in. Next to her was a little boy no older than seven, trembling in her arms. Tears were swimming in both their eyes and I knew they knew why I was in their home.

I opened my mouth to call for the others but stopped. No, I couldn't do that to them. But my hesitation was for nothing. I heard footsteps behind me followed by Axel's voice. "Well, well. Way to go Rox. Look what you found! Hey Zex," He shouted over his shoulder before reaching under the bed to tug the two kids out. "Roxas found something of value after all!"

I looked down at the terrified faces feeling absolutely helpless. I had to say something. "Wait a minute, Axel. We shouldn't take them. Missing girls and small children will get a lot more attention than a missing teenage boy. As soon as their parents get back…"

"They'll what?" Axel asked giving me an irritated look. "Call the police and report that their kids were kidnapped because they borrowed money from some gangsters to fund a drug habit? I don't think so. Though, I suppose taking them both would be troublesome." I watched angrily as he tore the little boy from the girl's arms and tossed him onto the bed. They were screaming and crying for each other and it was all one big blur. I felt even more helpless.

"Shut up!" Zexion bellowed as he entered the room which caught me and even Axel off guard. Everything became silent for a moment before he continued on. "The girl will be easiest to deal with. We'll take her. She won't snivel quite as much."

"Please, you can't leave my brother alone!" She pleaded, her big blue eyes reflecting every emotion of despair I'd ever seen. "He's only seven, he can't be alone!"

"Old enough to take care of himself." Zexion said bitterly before turning away from us and starting out of the house. "Other's have had to do it at younger ages. He'll manage. Now come without a fuss."

"You heard him, little lady." Axel said as he picked the girl up by the scruff of her neck, a habit he seemed to be fond of. He tossed her in my direction and gave me a look that said, _"You found her, you take care of her." _before turning back to the boy crying hysterically on the bed. He knelt down to face level with the boy and pulled out a lolly-pop.

I was surprised when he handed it to the boy with a kind smile and the boy quieted significantly. Then he turned back to look at the blonde girl coldly. Complete one-eighty.

"Tell him to stay here and wait for your parents. Tell him not to go to the neighbors or call the cops." Axel demanded and she nodded.

"He already knows…" She said sadly. "My mom and dad told him what to do. Never to call the cops." I watched her lower her head in either acceptance or defeat before mumbling. "Let's leave."


	5. Chapter 5: Double Fucking Standards

OMG I'm fucking RETARDED! I forgot that I was supposed to upload this chapter with the last chapter at the same time…

Ha ha ha! OOPS!

Anyhow, enjoy my lovelies!

* * *

Her name was Naminé, I soon found out on the ride "home," and I was right. She was from Pioneer High, mostly because of her lack of attendance. I always thought _my _attendance was bad, but this girl had me beat. Apparently she'd spent a whole year in California with her parents on the run, going from rest stop to rest stop just trying to get some sleep while her mother and father scrounged up what they could for their drug habit.

She actually told me a lot about herself before Zexion yelled for us to "shut the fuck up in the back seat" and we felt we needed to comply. She didn't need to tell me about her life though. One glance at those dark circles under her eyes and I knew she'd had it harder than I did. A gambling addiction is one thing to live with. Having druggies and dealers around constantly was entirely different and entirely more dangerous. She'd likely been through more in her life than I would ever see for the remainder of mine.

I pitied her.

And I knew what would happen next. She'd be moved from place to place like I was and probably fed gut-churning fast food by Axel until they decided what to do with her.

What I didn't understand was why she seemed to get special treatment.

_I _was thrown into the trunk of a car and rolled around for a good thirty minutes, blindfolded, hit in the head with a baseball bat, _tied to a chair_. Not in that order, but, you know. _She_, however, was sitting next to me in the back of Axel's beat up old Mustang. She could see where we were going and she didn't seem all too worried.

Tch. Chicks and their special treatment. Utter bullshit.

Whatever, though. I was glad they didn't do that to her. The poor girl had been through enough.

We got back to our "headquarters" and piled out of the car. There was no longer a harsh tone in either Axel or Zexion's voice as they ushered us into the house. Figures. _Now_ they want to play the nice guy cards.

As soon as we were inside, the usual nosey faces of Demyx and Xigbar were right there with a billion questions about the girl. Who she was, which "client" we collected her from, etc.

Before I knew what was happening, Xigbar whisked her away from us and it really pissed me off. Not that I was being protective or sentimental or anything, but Axel said she was _my_ responsibility.

Okay, he didn't actually say that, but he gave me that look. I _did_ mention the look.

I started to follow but Axel grabbed me by the shoulder and slung me back against him. He threw an arm around my shoulder and I took note that the guy needed some serious deodorant or _something_ for all the adrenaline induced sweat.

"Good job, Rox." He grinned against my ear, probably more proud of my "find" than I was. "Xemnas will be pretty pleased."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't give a rat's ass if Xemnas was pleased. I didn't want to have to do any of this in the first place. "Can I go to my room now?" I asked irritably. But oh, no. No that would be too damn much to ask.

"So _you_ were the one that caught the little cutie?" Demyx asked a little too loudly for my taste. "Not too bad for your first retrieval. The best I've ever done was a wad of counterfeit cash. Worthless, actually." He chuckled sheepishly before giving me another big grin, his trademark face. "So, did she give you a rough time?"

I groaned and shrunk away from Demyx which only meant I got sucked further into Axel's ripe armpit. "Look, I don't really wanna…"

"He was a pro!" Axel shouted, interrupting me before I could weasel my way out of delving deeper into this stupid reenactment. On the plus side though, it caused Axel to throw his arms up in excitement giving me the chance to escape the pit of doom. "You should've seen the kid. It was like he'd already done this all before! There they were, BAM! Right under the bed and he spotted them right away."

"No kidding?" Demyx cocked an eyebrow in my direction, seemingly impressed which I didn't want. I did nothing impressive.

I heard footsteps down the stairs then, followed by Larxene's banshee-like voice. "What are you all shouting about?"

"Roxas." Axel answered proudly. I swear, he acted like _he_ was the one that had done the good job. "He found us a great piece of collateral."

"Oh great, another mouth to feed." Larxene stopped in front of me a put her hands on her hips, sneering. "Guess you're good for something, though. Xemnas ought to be pretty happy."

Luxord chuckled as he came down the stairs with Marluxia trailing behind. "Don't worry, that's a compliment coming from her." He offered before clasping my shoulder tightly. "I've got to say, everyone is going to be impressed when they hear what you did on your first retrieval. We may have to celebrate. We'll take you to a bar!"

"I'm fifteen…" I muttered in irritation. Seriously, were these people morons or did they just have short term memory loss? "and if its all the same to you, I'd rather just go get some sleep." I brushed past the growing crowd, now seemingly bummed that I shot down their idea for celebration. They pissed me off. Was that what they did after they captured me too?

I must have looked tragically dramatic as I ran up the stairs, practically trampling over Vexen as I made my way to my room.

I had little time to flop down on the bed before I heard footsteps tromping down the hall. Axel was in my room in an instant, painting more confusion on his face than was actually necessary or convincing. "What's wrong, kid?" He asked before plopping down recklessly beside me. As if he cared.

"We kidnapped a girl! I thought you said the whole point of us being there was to inspire these people to change _before_ somebody got hurt!" I glared at him, and I realized he'd entered my room without knocking, so my scowl deepened. "And knock next time!"

He laughed and I wanted to punch him. "Look, kid…" He started talking again and I groaned because I didn't want to hear whatever he had to say. "Nothing bad is going to happen to that girl. At the very most she'll get the same treatment as you, minus the head injury." He winked at me, bastard, so I nudged him off my bed.

"I would hope you wouldn't do that! And that isn't what I meant." I turned away from him and clutched my pillow. "She's going to be hurt when her parents don't come for her. She'll feel like she's completely alone. Without even a single friend."

"Aw, how cute! You _care_." He breathed in the most horrible mocking tone I'd ever heard. I listened as he stood from the floor before grabbing me by the scruff of my neck. Fucker. "Come on, I'll take you to see her."


	6. Chapter 6: Am I REALLY a Dumb Ass?

ITSA MAH BURFDAH! HAPPAH BURFDAH TAH MEH!

*ahem* Sorry, that was annoying. Anyhow, I KNOW I said I likely wouldn't update due to being busy but we ended up not taking the kids to Knotts Berry Farm like I figured we were going to so it gave me some time to update this evening. I chose to update this one, because I favor it.

After this though, don't expect anything till at least the middle of next week. I'm going on a mystery road trip this weekend so I don't know if I'll even be having time to _think_ about either one of my stories.

Anyhow, enough about me. I hope you enjoy this! Dun dun dun, the plot thickens. Wait, what plot? Ha ha ha, enjoy!

* * *

"Why is it," I asked in annoyance as I stared at the girl sleeping peacefully on the broken down old couch in the downstairs living room. "that she is laying here with nobody around to guard her, she was fully aware of the route we took to get here, and she isn't tied to a chair with all your ugly mugs leering down at her?"

Axel laughed at my question and wrapped his arm around my neck. Damn, trapped by that fucking pit again. "Her situation is a lot different than yours." He started. "The life of a druggy's child is different from the life of a gambler's child. Chances are, she's been used as collateral before. Parents drop her off at the dealers house until they can go get the money they owe the dealer. She's there for who knows how long with who knows what done to her…" He paused and made a "tsk" sound and for the first time since I met him, I actually believed he felt pity. "She's used to it and she knows not to run away. This is nothing more than just another one of those times. Probably her first time without her brother though…"

I looked up at him, his eyes drooping slightly as he stared at the girl. "Axel?" My mouth spoke before my brain could tell it not to. I really didn't want to call these people by their names. They might think I was getting used to them or something gay like that. Oh well, too late now. He was staring at me. "Since she's been in this situation before, you make it sound like she may actually have a chance of being picked up by her parents."

He smiled and shrugged and this irritated me. How could he smile? This wasn't a fucking game. But his smile quickly faded as he began to speak. "Can't really say. When the dealer is involved, that changes things. Of course they want to stay on good terms with their dealer or they can't get drugs. But with us, well… they can always borrow money from other people. They don't need to keep themselves in _our_ good graces."

I nodded to shut him up. I didn't want to hear anymore even though I didn't quite grasp the whole concept fully. I got the basic idea. Naminé was probably stuck, same as me. "You gonna make her go out on a retrieval after just a few weeks like you did to me?" I had to ask. But I knew the answer. No. No, she's a girl and so she'll be treated like a princess.

"Doubt it!" Axel said through a chuckle. "I have a hard time seeing Xemnas approving that. Nah, she'll probably get some tedious task like paperwork or cleaning or something. And really, its about damn time we got a girl in this house that'll do some cleaning. Larxene doesn't do shit! But this girl, I can tell she'll be a hard worker."

Cleaning. Huh. How chauvinistic could you get? But I had to laugh at this. "Poor girl." I glanced at Axel and grinned widely. "To think she'll be cleaning up after you. You might as well just kill her now before the toxins do."

"Hey, smartass! You saying I stink?" Axel laughed again and this time I didn't mind so much as he pulled me closer against him to give me a well deserved noogy, even with his stink pit that _dangerously close _to my face. "It isn't my fault Larxene hogged the bathroom this morning! Now shut up and come on. I let you see the girl, now you have to return the favor."

He yanked me by my wrist and rushed out of the room before I could even fathom that he'd released me from the headlock he'd put me in. "Where are we going now?"

"Downstairs!" He shouted, and sure enough, that's where he dragged me. We clambered down the wooden steps leading to the basement and burst through the door. I wasn't all too surprised to see the usual slackers sitting around at a table playing a game of poker, though there were a few of the hard workers too. Axel turned to me and stared at me with wide, excited eyes. "You play?"

Pfft. Did I play? My dad was a gambling addict and I grew up in Vegas. I'd been playing poker probably longer than half these morons. I grinned and brushed past Axel toward the table. "Sit down and maybe I'll teach you something."

"Ooh. You hear that Ax? Short stuff's gonna teach you a lesson!" Demyx said with a laugh and I turned my gaze to him quickly.

"I'm gonna teach you a lesson too." I said and I grabbed a chair and pulled it over to the table as the group erupted into laughter. But not that mocking kind. Real, _genuine_ laughter at someone else's expense, but not at mine. I took a seat between Demyx and Marluxia and waited while the others handed their cards back to Luxord and he began to shuffle them.

In retrospect, maybe the child of a gambling addict shouldn't get involved in a game of cards. They say addictions are hereditary after all. I'm not actually sure there's any proof of that though. Not that I gave a shit one way or the other.

"So Roxas," Xigbar started and I cringed. Not that I didn't like the guy… well, actually I didn't like any of these people, but something about Xigbar in particular made me uncomfortable. Once you spend a lot of quality time rolling around in some guy's trunk, you tend to get an off feeling about him.

And I meant the trunk of his _car_ so get your mind out of the gutter.

"that was a pretty good job you did today, finding those kids." He said with a big shit-eating grin. I rolled my eyes. I still didn't want to talk about what _I _had done. I hadn't done anything other than spot the kids and decide a little too late that I should keep my mouth shut about them and move on.

Axel was the one that yanked them out from under the bed. He was the one that tore the two of them apart and made them cry and scream. He was even the one that calmed them.

And Zexion was the one that chose which of the two we would take. He was the one that commanded us like a general on what to do, where to go, when to speak and when to shut the fuck up.

I… I did nothing.

And I sure as hell did not want to talk about any of it.

Everyone else, however, seemed dead set on continuing this discussion.

"Look, it was nothing." I muttered. "I don't want to talk about it."

"He's ashamed." Axel inserted and I scowled at him. That fucker did a lot of talking and he really just needed to learn when to shut the hell up. "He's worried about the girl getting hurt when her parents don't come for her."

"Shit kid… You don't think the rest of us feel the same?" Xigbar's voice again, and really it just grates on my ears. "We see it time and time again. Kids we get and their parents never come to pick them up."

I looked around at the disgruntled faces then. That didn't make any sense. Time and time again? Other kids just like me? Well, where the hell were they then? Did these bastards eventually kill those kids or did they just let them go once they grew up? Neither one of those options seemed to make any sense. I thought for a while longer but eventually, I had to ask, because no answer I could fathom seemed right. "Well, where are all these other kids?"

Larxene's eyes narrowed on me and I could feel my blood run cold. Almost immediately before she opened her mouth, I realized what she was going to say. "You're looking at us, dumb ass…"


	7. Chapter 7: A Whole Lot of Shit Went Down

Uhk, you guys. I donated blood the other day (the first successful donation in over five years for me) and since then I've been uber weak and fainty. I feel like a girl. Bleh. I know you don't care… I just have to complain to SOMEBODY and you all have no choice but to listen.

I mean, yeah I suppose you could skip over my AN but I'm too awesome and I know you guys hang on every word I say like Brinkmess does (this is a _blatant joke_). And speaking of Brink, have you guys gone and read "Meanings" yet? I'm serious, fuckingdooooooooit!

Oh also, somebody was complaining about cursing or something? Seriously? It says in the summary it is rated T for LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE. Uhhhhhh… Ok.

Alright, moving along. And we'll be getting a new character next chapter. I'm sure you guys will be THRILLED! I KNOW I AM! *sarcasm*

Enjoy!

* * *

"Every single one of us has a story…" Axel started and I watched curiously as he pulled a crumpled up old pack of cigarettes out of his top drawer. In the entirety of the past two and a half weeks I'd been around him, never once had I seen him smoke. He didn't even smell like cigarettes, but I guess everyone has some sort of nervous habit, and he sure looked nervous. He took a seat next to the boarded up window by his bed and struck a match, giving life to that putrid little cancer stick hanging from his lips.

After a long drag he turned his eyes to me and I felt a little silly for even asking to be there in the first place. "Are you going to tell me?" I asked. I just had to ask. I had to know everything. Couldn't mind my own fucking business.

"I'll get to it!" He snapped, and I realized he really didn't want to talk about any of this. But what did he expect after Larxene dropped that bombshell and I rushed out of the room? I had to ask somebody and I figured he'd be my best bet without over exaggerating things or getting details mixed up like I knew a certain obnoxious red vine eating, mullet-haired fruit cake and overly creepy, eye patch wearing weirdo would do.

He inhaled more of the cigarette before crushing it out against his boot. "Alright, so you know most of us are just like you. Kids who's parents really couldn't give two shits about them." I nodded and he chuckled in that sarcastic tone of his. "Yeah, well you don't know the half of it, kid. You don't know shit."

"Tell me, then." I demanded. I really did want to know how all this came around. "Tell me everything."

I watched Axel inhale sharply. He really was trying to beat around the bush with this information but I wasn't going to let him. After a moment of him staring grumpily at me, he opened his mouth to talk again. "Most of us are orphans,"

"Orphans?" I cocked an eyebrow. "But that's not the same as…"

"Let me fucking finish!" He glared at me and I relented to just shut up. As much as I would have liked to think I could do so, I knew I couldn't take this guy in a fight, so I shut up and let him continue. "What's an orphan more than a kid who gets abandoned by his parents? One way or another, we're orphans, you and me both and the rest of them too. Our parents fucking abandoned us! For all they know or care, we're dead and they're still going on about their business like nothing even happened."

Strangely, I felt myself suddenly caring. I started feeling for Axel and the others when I never would have otherwise. "What happened, Axel?"

"Like I said, we all got a story. I could tell you mine and everybody else's assuming you want to hear." He looked at me and I could tell he was hoping that I would say I didn't want to hear. Sorry Axel, no such luck. I wanted to know everything. After a moment of silence he decided to continue.

"My mom was a drug addict and she did _whatever_ it took to get money for her habit. She was a prostitute, but not the classy kind. She was a sucked up, ratty haired old slut and she sold herself for a lot less than what she could've made, just to get what she needed. Still, it never seemed to be enough. Lucky for her, her dealer was a pedophile. When she couldn't come up with the money, she'd just drop me off at his place for a weekend of some real fucked up shit." Axel shifted in discomfort and the scowl on his face deepened.

I regretted asking at this point, because really, he'd told me enough. I didn't want to hear any more. But he was going to tell me now. Now I'd opened up a can of worms.

He laughed, and it caught me off guard but it only took me a second to realize that it was a bitter laughter. Then he continued. "From the time I was three, I was addicted to heroin. I guess in addition to all the other sick shit that fucking dealer did to me, he liked to get little kids high. I don't remember much about it, all I know is I got the marks to remind me. One day though, he decided I wasn't enough. Maybe I was getting too old for him or maybe my mom was just needing more and more than she or I could afford. Whatever the case, she needed a loan. So she got one, and a year later, Xigbar came to collect."

I blinked at him as he paused. He was smiling, but I really couldn't tell if it was a happy smile or another one of those loathful grins he occasionally got. There was a long moment of silence and I couldn't stand it. I had to break it. "So Xigbar's the one that kidnapped you?"

"Kidnapped?" He scoffed and his grin got wider. "Fucking old son of a bitch _saved_ me. And I'll never forget that day. He took me to a burger joint and bought me some food. He explained that I'd be staying with him temporarily until my mom could pay back the money she owed them. Hell, I didn't care though. All I knew was I was getting to eat, something I never got to do unless I was at school. He was too nice and I was sure he was going to hurt me but I didn't care cause even _that_ was better than what I'd been through already. But he never did. None of them ever did. And my mom never paid them back. She handed me over without a second thought and no intention of ever getting me back… and it was the best thing that ever happened to me."

He looked at me, still smiling and I could not even begin to tell you how I felt in that moment.

It was the strangest sensation, and I can't even put it into words.

"I'm not the only one who had it rough," He continued and I didn't know if I should stop him. I didn't know if I could handle any more shit like that, but I didn't know how to stop him.

Once Axel starts talking, it can be hell to shut him up.

"Larxene was three when she got brought in. Her dad was an alcoholic and he ended up dying of alcohol poisoning in their house. She stayed in that house with his rotting corpse for four days until we went to get her. That was my first retrieval, I was eleven. I still remember that horrible smell. I'm sure she does too." He chuckled a bit and shook his head. "Then Zexion, poor kid, he was a little prodigy. He had a great life until his mom died. His dad got custody of him and left the poor kid alone for days on end, expecting him to get himself up and ready and off to school. His dad had a sex addiction and spent a lot of his money on hookers and call girls. He would borrow money from us occasionally so he could get his fix, but his debt racked up into the thousands. We snatched Zex up at around ten years old. He hated it at first but I think he's got pretty used to us now."

"What about Demyx?" I asked. "He's a kidnapped kid too, right?"

Axel nodded with a smile. "Sure is, but let's not use that word. Kidnapped implies that we have ill intentions. I'm sure you realize now, that isn't the case. We just want our money back…" He stretched out along his bed then and flopped back, still smiling. "Dem's dad was your typical white trash, trailer park, abusive alcoholic. Kid seemed more than happy when we came to collect. He was seven. Lux was before me, his dad had a gambling problem. Not sure what age they got him. Saïx's mom was heroin addict and he came around the same time I did. He was eight. Turns out his mom knew the same dealer that my mom did. Funny how life works, huh? Then Marly, poor kid. He actually had a nice life. He had good parents with good intentions. But they lied to the IRS and ended up owing them a lot of money. They borrowed money from us and I really believed they had every intention of paying us back when they could…"

I nodded slowly as he paused. I couldn't stand the thought of him leaving me hanging. "So what happened?"

"Well, a year went by and we went to collect. Understandably, they had no money to repay us. We took Marly as collateral and ensured them he would be safe. He was just ten years old, and it was either him or his little brother. The kid actually agreed to come along, even with his parents crying like they were." Axel shook his head and for a moment his smile faltered. "Two weeks after that, their car went over an embankment, killed all of them. They were probably on their way to pick up their son, seeing how much money it was reported was in the car. Marly was presumed dead with the rest of them even though his body was never found. Kid couldn't even go to his own funeral." He looked to me quickly with a wide grin. "Worked out for us though. Got us one hell of a tactician."

I looked away from him, disgusted, but I shouldn't be surprised that jerk thought that way. But that was god knows how many years ago and Marluxia seemed content now. No point in dwelling on it. Besides, I still had some unanswered questions. "What about Xemnas and Xigbar and the others? I mean, I can't imagine Lexaeus ever being small enough to grab without a fight, or Xaldin for that matter. And Vexen is way to old for me to even try to imagine him as a kid."

Axel let out a hearty laugh and I couldn't help but join in toward the end. Obviously he found my crack about Vexen funny, though I meant it in all honesty. "Well kid, there's an interesting story." He started and sat up to face me. "Back in the eighties, Xemnas was just a regular guy working an office job when he decided to take a week's salary and gamble it in a casino. In that weekend alone he went from two-hundred and fifty dollars to one and a half million."

"Holy shit!" I leapt up from my spot against the wall and stared at Axel in disbelief. "Seriously? How?"

"Craps and roulette mostly." He chuckled and shrugged as he motioned for me to sit back down. "What can I say? Guy has a lucky streak when it comes to cash. Luck and patience. So anyway, he gets back to the office on Monday, determined he's gonna keep his job and not let his money change him. But he made the mistake of telling his best office buddy about his winnings and stupidly loans the guy a couple grand for car. The guy promises to pay him back but guess what? He never does. So word gets around the office about Xemnas' money and that's how he met Xigbar. Xigbar asked Xemnas to loan him fifty bucks for a date, but Xemnas was understandably hesitant and told about how his best friend stiffed him on the money for that car."

I nodded. I saw where this was going. Though I knew very little about Xemnas, I could see quite a lot of Xigbar's personality and he was definitely the gung ho type. "So Xigbar told Xemnas not to put up with it, didn't he?"

Axel scoffed and rolled his eyes, still grinning. "Shit, he pretty much took the reigns and told Xemnas they were going to get his money back one way or another. See, it doesn't matter how much cash you have. It really is just the principle of the thing. So Xigbar started hanging out with Xemnas and if you can believe it, the two became really good friends. I mean, they're obviously two completely different people but Xemnas didn't have a lot of friends. So Xigbar devised a plan to teach that guy a lesson. He told Xemnas to get ahold of somebody he could trust so he called up his old college roommate."

"Vexen, right?" I watched as Axel nodded and I smiled with satisfaction. Yeah, I could definitely see where this was headed. "And let me guess, Xigbar brought the muscle, Xaldin and Lexaeus."

"Bingo! You're pretty smart kid. Of course, you've been around here long enough to know." Axel plopped back down on his bed with a sigh and stared at the ceiling. "I bet you can guess the rest. They ruffed the guy up, got the money back and they decided to make a real business out of it. End of story. So here we all are all these years later. A bunch of orphans that didn't belong anywhere else. Happy and…" He froze and so did I as a strange noise echoed through the dilapidated building.

I didn't even think that old thing worked, but somehow, _somebody_ had rung the doorbell.


	8. Chapter 8: A Pest in the House

Gah, sorry for not updating sooner guys. So if you're also reading "It Was All About the Money" then you already know I bought myself a new laptop and I'm having a difficult time getting adjusted to the word processor. It doesn't have page breaks or spell check or any of the normal things I'm used to having and it is taking some getting used to.

I've also been busy packing lately because I'm moving from beautiful, sunny Southern California to cold, dreary Wyoming to sort of find myself and grow as a person and really, there's nothing left for me in this place so why stick around? So I'll be busy packing for a while which means not a lot of time for writing or updating. Sorry! D:

God I'm going to miss this weather.

In other news, I'm taking what could possibly be my final trip to my beloved Disneyland this weekend before my annual pass expires in September. This could be your last chance to come rock the magical kingdom with me and my friend Moni and just have lots of fun. I promise we're not serial killers. Er... well, there was _that one time_ but it was in international waters so they couldn't prosecute.

Alright, all that bull aside, enjoy this chapter! New character. One I'm not particularly fond of so please, if you're a fan of hers, spare me praise for including her. I don't want it. I really just don't. As stated earlier, I have my personal reasons for disliking her and it isn't the normal cop-out reasons the fangirls give. She's just... just no. But include her I did for several reasons, and she'll probably play one of the most important roles she'll ever have in fanfiction here in this story. So welcome her regardless of your love/hate for her.

Enjoy!

* * *

I stared mortified at the sight before me on the front step. Honestly, you could have told me that this was going to happen and I still wouldn't have expected it, or maybe I just wouldn't have believed you.

Axel, the fucker, was grinning from ear to ear and it was obvious he already knew who was staring at us with that stupid wide smile on her face.

"Xion!" I shouted and I'm sure it would have been loud enough to wake up the whole house if they'd actually been asleep. I yanked my little sister into the broken down old building and stared at her in anger. "What the hell? What are you doing here? Is... is that a note safety pinned to your shirt?" I reached out and snatched the folded up piece of paper off the pin. Seriously? Only my father would pin a fucking note to one of his teenager's shirts like they were preschoolers. Before I could read it, Axel tore it from my fingertips and flipped it open so I turned my eyes back on my sister. "What are you doing here?"

Xion shrugged in her usual way she always did when she wanted to avoid a long conversation. "Dad said I could come. Simple as that."

"Oh no you don't. Don't do that!" I grabbed her and shook her, probably a bit more roughly than I should have. "Come on, tell me what's really going on!"

"Your dad..." Axel started with a chuckle and I could tell almost immediately it was a disgusted one. "He's a real swell guy, isn't he?"

"What are you talking about?" I turned my gaze to him and he handed over the note. I unfolded it and read over it in disbelief. _"You have my son, take my daughter too and consider my debt repaid."_My gaze flew to Xion before turning back to Axel. "Seriously? What the hell? Have you guys still been harassing him?"

Axel grinned sheepishly and took in a deep breath. Great. He had an excuse for me. "We may have been trying to get ahold of him, you know, every once in a while. Just to let him know we still had you. And that he still owes us money."

"Real great Axel! So he pawns my sister off on us to clear his debt. Just perfect." I spun around to face my sister and she was still there smiling. "And you, quit grinning! You think this is funny?" Actually, that was a stupid question. I knew my sister thought this was wonderful. From as early on as I can remember, she used to obsess over movies like The Godfather and Goodfellas. She thought the mafia was so fucking cool, not that these douchers were a mafia or anything. "You can't be here, Xion. You need to go home."

"Now hold on, Rox. Let the girl speak." Axel nudged past me and I'd never been so irritated in my life. No, not even when I was rolling around in the back of Xigbar's Cadillac beaten and bloodied did I feel so miffed. Then again, Axel just had that way of pissing me off. He leaned down so that he was at face level with Xion and the sickeningly sweet smile he forced only made me want to punch him more. "What is your take on this all, sweet heart?"

Xion's eyes narrowed and I cringed because I knew she was going to smart mouth him and he'd love it. And sure enough, she spoke. "Call me sweet heart again and I'll punch you in the face."

And Axel laughed and I groaned because this was what I knew would be the start of some weird form of friendship between the two. I swear, I was beginning to believe I was the only person in the world that wasn't entirely messed up.

But Xion was only acting tough. She was putting on this persona of the fresh faced kid getting in good with the gang on moxy and moxy alone and honestly, it made me mad. That was my role.

"I like this girl." Axel said as he turned to me with a wide grin. "She's a smart alec like you." And it was downhill from there. He turned back to Xion and started with the questions. "So, are you a hard worker?"

Of course she_ said_ she was, and it was a lie. Xion was just about as lazy as they came. I can't count how many times I was cleaning up after her our whole life. "Wrong." I muttered and I turned away from them. I knew it would do no good to try and stop this idiocy. I could see the look in his eyes, that Axel had already decided to keep Xion, as though she was a pet. And that was exactly what he'd get, something to look after and coddle like a puppy. A big, clumsy, messy puppy.

I'll be honest with you, I wasn't thrilled with the idea for plenty of reasons and almost every single one of them had to do with the fact that Xion was my sister. If it had been anyone else, I could've lived with that. But no, it had to be Xion.

It had to be my mouthy little sister who thought she was too cute for words, to come in and wreck this good thing I had going on. Because strange as it sounds, I was beginning to like this. I had a place where I belonged. Where I wasn't a burden but a part of a well structred organization. Sure, maybe I'd only actually felt that way for the last five minutes of my existence, but I was feeling it at least. Then here comes Xion, right on the front doorstep. And speaking of...

"Wait," I paused in my tromp up the stairs to turn and face my sister. "did Dad drop you off here?"

She nodded a bit too excitedly and I could tell it didn't really register with her just how entirely fucked up this situation actually was.

For some reason I felt a pang in my heart. Maybe it was just the thought that my father could do this to his kids. Or maybe it was the idea I'd been nursing in the back of my mind now shattering to pieces around me that maybe, _just maybe_, my father didn't know where to find me and that was the real reason he hadn't come to rescue me.

I felt sick and I wanted to scream but I didn't because I knew about five people that would come out from wherever they were lounging and throttle me. Instead I just continued my storm up the stairs and into my room, slamming the door probably unnecessarily. I was too pissed to describe how I felt.

I was even more pissed when I didn't hear clumsy footfall behind me like I'd grown accustomed to hearing whenever I stomped up to my room.

I waited, clutching my pillow, to hear those footsteps. Waited to hear my door burst open without a knock. Waited to feel Axel drop himself right at the foot of my bed. Waited to hear him call me "kid" and ask me what was bothering me this time.

None of it came.

I felt angry, more pissed than I'd ever been in my life, which really didn't help to explain the tears rolling down my cheeks at all.


	9. Chapter 9: At Least There's Pancakes

Bah, sorry I've been doing that whole not updating thing. As previously stated, I'm SUPER busy and the few times I'm able to actually sit down and relax, my muse has been more for drawing, not writing.

I did however manage to get this chapter done so yay for that! Something to update for you all!

UH MAH GAHD YU GAIS, so if you haven't gone to see Scott Pilgrim v.s. The World yet, dooooo it! It is so super nerdy and if you're a super nerd like me, you'll love it. I promise. There's so much shit in there that made me squee and go "OMG I KNOW WHAT THAT'S A REFERENCE TO!" that I was completely satisfied. I also heard that if you've read the comic (cause no, it isn't manga) you will also be pretty pleased. I haven't read them so I dunno but I've heard it is pretty damn accurate. And lol, so my friend said that I AM Ramona Flowers. She said hands down, that is me, personality and everything down to a T, even her life. And then I started calculating and I do happen to have seven _evil _exs. Kinda funny, actually. Though I'd have to say I'm a bit more abrasive than she is in the movie.

So long story short, GO SEE IT! It's awesome, and you can kinda get a feel on how cool I really am in real life, only more abrasive. ;P

Okay, so back to this story. Yeah, I don't exactly expect anybody to feel bad for Roxas. There are TONS of shitty parents in the world, why should we feel bad for Roxas just cause he's one of those kids with parents that love themselves more than their own children? Nope, don't pity him. He actually has life pretty great right now. He's just a stupid teenager who can't see it. If you do feel bad for him though, that's great.

And Xion... Let's not talk about Xion. Let's just pretend she isn't even in the story until she actually says something and we have to acknowledge her existence.

Now on with the story! Huzzah!

* * *

I woke up, still less than pleased with the previous day. As I rolled out of bed I secretly wished that after a few hours of talking with my sister, Axel had decided to stuff her in the trunk of his car and drive her all the way back to my dad.

I knew that was too much to ask for though.

I groaned as my eyes fell on the digital clock I'd been given. 9:36. Perfect. Just enough time for everybody in the house to be wide awake and pestering my sister with questions. Questions I was afraid she'd be all too eager to answer. Questions about _me_.

My memory quickly reminded me, however, that Naminé was down stairs and I had a moral obligation to make sure she wasn't just left alone. This was her first official day with us and I didn't want hers to have to be like mine was.

After stumbling through a quick tooth brushing, I made my way downstairs to the community bull session in the massive open wreck of a living room.

I cringed as soon as I heard Larxene's shrill voice and it was really too damn early for this. "So, you had to drag your sister along with you, huh? What's wrong? Can't handle being all by your lonesome?"

"It was his dad's idea." Axel butted in, of course. He really needs to quit doing that, the jerk. "He thinks it'll clear his debt."

Larxene snorted and I couldn't help but think how much I fucking hate that woman, even if I agreed with what she had to say. "Instead he's just giving us another burden."

"Hey now," Luxord started. Damn it, was _everybody _awake right now? "This girl could be helpful. She certainly seems eager enough."

"Where is she?" I demanded. I'd already scanned the room three times in the few seconds I'd actually been in it and Xion was nowhere in sight. It worried me, but not for the protective older brother reasons. And for the record, I'm only five minutes and fifty-two seconds older than her so I'm _not obligated_ to be protective.

"She's upstairs with Xemnas and his pet." Marluxia said with a snicker. By "pet" I knew he meant Saïx. The dangerous looking man with the x shaped scar across his face was actually the butt of many jokes with these guys when he wasn't around. Mostly I figured it was just due to Saïx being a hard worker which didn't seem odd. Some of the other guys were just as eager and happy to be here too.

Maybe Marluxia was just an ass...

"So, what? Are they trying to decide whether or not to let her in?" All silence then, no answers. Of course. Know nothing douche bags...

I looked to Lexaeus then, who was sitting quietly over on the couch. I was hesitant to bother him. I knew he could crush me if he simply _breathed_ too hard at me. He was the only original member in the room at the time, though. I knew if anybody had any insight to what could possibly be going on, it would be him. "Do you know what's going on up there?"

Maybe he didn't hear me. Or maybe he was just so enthralled in his thoughts that he wasn't listening. Or maybe he just didn't realize I was talking to him because when I thought back on it, I hadn't really seen one person outside of Vexen say as single word to him. So I stepped over to him and cleared my throat to ask again. "Do you know what they're saying up there, Lexaeus?"

I had his attention _then_ and it was scary. His gaze shot to me like I'd just proclaimed I was going to strip naked and run through the house, and just being in that proximity to a giant like him, staring at me the way he was, I just about shit my pants. After a moment though he spoke and I also realized that I'd never heard his voice before, but it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.

"It's probably no big deal." He said with a half smile and I figured he must've thought I was concerned.

Nope, no concern here. Just irritation. "Do you think they're going to let her stay? I mean, how valuable can a fifteen year old girl really be?"

And then I heard Larxene in the background making some comment about_ me _being a valuable fifteen year old girl and I should've expected the retort but it was annoying regardless. I rolled my eyes and turned my question back to Lexaeus. "I mean, tell me she's not going to stay here."

Lexaeus was quiet for a moment, and I mean quiet even for him. It was like he even stopped breathing and only silence filled the air. The others were listening, obviously just as interested in the answer as I was. Then he inhaled sharply and we all held our breaths. "Xemnas isn't the type to turn down a hard worker."

And I grumbled and rolled my eyes and I really started to wonder how it was my sister convinced all these people that she was such a hard worker. I mean, really. What proof did she have because I hadn't ever seen it.

"Just great." I mumbled and crossed my arms. I was more irritated than ever. Oh well, time to try and ignore it. "So where's that Naminé girl?"

"Forget it, stud." Larxene said, but there was less of a mocking tone to her voice than usual. "That one's a little too cute for you."

"Oh come now, let a boy dream." Luxord said with a grin and wrapped his arm around me. Damn it, I hated that I was stuck in a house with a bunch of weirdos that felt like they had to treat me like a little brother. Couldn't they just mind their own business? Well, at least Luxord had gotten his shower this morning.

I wormed my way out from under his arm and looked to the others, but not at Axel. I was still too pissed at him. "Look, I just want to make sure she's doing alright."

"She's in the kitchen with Xigbar and Zexion." Axel said. I ignored him. He continued. "Come on, I'll take you to see her."

I didn't want to follow him, but damn it all, this was a big house and I still didn't know where the kitchen was. I let him lead me out of the room and down the long hall that I knew lead to Larxene and Marluxia's bedrooms. No wonder I didn't know where the kitchen was. I'd never dared to set foot in this area of the house unaccompanied.

We made a sharp right in the middle of the hall and sure enough, there was the kitchen, or, what passed for a kitchen. It was more like a bedroom converted into a kitchen and it lacked the obvious sink, and any form of counter space. It did have a fridge and lots of tables pressed against the walls, awkward looking as they were and I had to guess that the room in the house that was originally the kitchen was probably uninhabitable. This house was practically condemned after all.

I saw Naminé standing next to what appeared to be a portable stove top and for the first time I noticed the slight smell of something delicious wafting through the air. Xigbar was next to her chattering away too loudly for them to even notice our entrance and Zexion seemed busy digging through a cardboard box for something.

I stepped closer to Naminé and cleared my throat. "Good morning."

She spun around and looked at me with her big bright eyes and I'll admit, I may have blushed. She was very cute after all and it didn't help to make her any less adorable with a smudge of white powder on her cheek. Yeah, I said adorable. "Oh! Good morning." She said nonchalantly and it irritated me a bit.

She could've been more enthused to see me. Afterall, _I_ was the one that was so nice to her from the beginning. I never even shouted around her once. "S-so," I continued. "how are you?"

"Oh, I'm alright. Just making breakfast." She smiled and, okay shoot me, but I had a total crush on her now. A girl can not stand at a stove and cook breakfast with a smile without winning _somebody's_ heart.

I was pretty sure we were having a moment...

Then Xigbar leaned in to leer at me and killed that moment. "When's the last time you had a home made breakfast, kiddo?"

I thought back on it seriously, annoyed as I was. I truly couldn't recall. Usually I just grabbed a banana on my way to school and when we were out camping it was all Little Debbie snack packs and dry cereal. I couldn't think back on the last _real meal_ I'd had at all, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. Nobody home cooked anything, ever. Even my time here was spent eating whatever slop Axel brought in from fast food restaurants and usually there was leftover pizza floating somewhere around on the first floor. That was what my diet consisted of.

"I don't know." I answered finally. "Probably before my mom left."

"Well then, we're all in for a treat." Xigbar said as he smacked my shoulder. "Little Nami here found some old pancake recipe and she's making pancakes and eggs."

"I'm no expert chef." Naminé inserted as she looked at me over her shoulder. _God, so fucking cute_... "I just cook for my brother but he likes my cooking so it can't be that bad, right?"

"It'll probably be the best thing I've eaten in a long time." I reassured her and she smiled. Despite how horrible the last twelve hours had been, I was happy and I was excited and I couldn't wait to taste my first home cooked meal in over ten years.


	10. Chapter 10: Scratch That

Well, my family is on their way back to Wyoming with half my belongings. D:

But on the plus side, I'll be having a LOT more time for writing since my packing is all done (at least for the time being.)

I've got another chapter for you all. And I'm realizing this story isn't going to be as short as I thought. Oops. Oh well.

Also, I'm selling hair bows to get some extra money for the big move. Check out my dA account for more information!

Anyhow, enjoy this chapter! The plot thickens. DUN DUN DUN! (Pfft... Plot)

* * *

We sat blinking at one another, Axel and I. Blinking at first between just the two of us and then across the table at the others.

Some just had their heads bowed, picking quietly at their plates and trying very hard not to make eye contact with anyone else. Others were staring hard at Naminé who kept her eyes downcast at her own plate in unaware bliss. Nobody spoke a word but I could tell we all knew what everyone else was thinking.

_"Please, please Larxene... keep your mouth shut."_

The pancakes were awful. Terrible. No amount of syrup drenching could fix the mess of a breakfast laying infront of us. I didn't even know it was possible to burn the outside of a pancake while the inside remained a gooey mass of dough. That, and I'm pretty sure scrambled eggs aren't meant to be runny.

Naminé seemed content with her breakfast, happy even. The rest of us though...

And then I heard hands slamming down on the table and I winced because I knew somebody was about to say something.

"That's it!" Larxene started. "I can't keep quiet. This food is..."

"Delicious." Saïx interrupted. The rest of the room breathed out a heavy sigh. He turned his gaze dangerously toward Larxene and the woman surpisingly didn't open her trap to argue. I guess there was somebody who actually_ could _shut her up. "Thank you Naminé. It tastes great."

Then it happened.

"Why would you lie?" I cringed and the rest of the room gasped. My sister, my _stupid_ sister, had to open her big mouth. I stared hard at Xion but she paid me no mind as she continued what I was sure was to be an all out tirade on poor Naminés little heart. "This food is terrible!" This was true. "I've tasted two week old food that was better than this!" Also true, but let's not go into details. "How could you possibly mess up two of the easiest to cook things in the world?" Hey now... "Are you retarded?" Alright!

"That's enough!" I slammed my own hands down on the table for a good dramatic effect and stood glaring at my sister. "If cooking is so damn easy, why don't you do it Xion?"

Okay, bad idea to open my mouth because as my little sister, Xion's priority is to make my life a living hell. Still, I couldn't let her sit there and tear Naminé to shreads.

She smirked and she got that evil look in her eye that only little sisters can get. "It isn't my fault your little girlfriend volunteered, Roxy."

Of course, the group "OOOooooOOooo" followed and I was starting to doubt many of these people were actually as old as they said they were.

"She's _not_ my girlfriend!" I huffed. So shoot me, not the best comeback in the world.

"_Clearly_." Xion retorted with a cocked eyebrow and damn it, insulted on top of my crappy comeback. Things weren't going my way.

"H-he's really not." Naminé muttered. I looked to her, her hands in her lap and eyes darting nervously around at the others. She looked on the verge of tears and now I was torn between continuing this fight with my sister in public or just storming off now and taking poor, wounded little Naminé with me. Of course both options offered further embarrassment and who was to say Naminé would even come with me. I was stuck.

"Shut your mouth Xion." I took my seat and picked up my fork in irritation. I refused to lift my gaze to meet anybody's, especially hers. "You don't have to show off in front of everybody. They're already letting you stay."

"I could say the same to you." Xion mocked back and the room went uncomfortably quiet. I heard her stand and mumble something about finding something else to eat. Over half of the others quickly followed.

It was as soon as the last jerk to run out left that I actually turned my eyes up at those remaining at the table. Axel, Lexaeus, Saïx, Zexion, and Xemnas were the only ones kind enough (or stupid enough) to still be sitting there with Naminé and me.

"It is very unfortunte that our family breakfast had to end so terribly." Xemnas said almost too softly to even be heard. "It isn't that your efforts were unappreciated, Naminé. The opposite infact, we..."

"That's okay." Naminé said quickly and I was shocked the girl had the guts to interrupt Xemnas. On the rare occasion that Xemnas actually spoke, everybody shut up and listened. She was still new here though, so I'm sure he'd let it slide. "I've been cooking all my food the same way since I was eight. I'm not very good at it I guess. I guess my tastebuds just got used to it after a while."

"It's not that bad." Axel forced out and I could tell he was trying really hard to just be polite but it only came out sounding painful.

"It's pretty bad." Zexion inserted bluntly. He turned his cold eyes from Naminé to Axel and I wondered why he stayed if he was just going to be an ass about it. "Don't even think about trying to finish it just to be polite. The eggs alone stand a good chance at giving you food poisoning and we have a retrieval later today."

"I'm really sorry." Naminé said and I could hear by the trembling in her voice that she was absolutely devistated. This poor girl, all she wanted to do was help and they were going to tear her apart. Though, I suppose babying her was not part of their mind set either.

"You shouldn't be sorry." Lexaeus offered and for a second I didn't know who was talking because I was still so unused to his voice. He had a kind smile on his face which I had never seen before but it sure looked frightening. "You did a nice thing for us and it really is the thought that counts."

Okay, maybe I'd misjudged the guy. Maybe he wasn't so scary, though, I'm sure he had his moments.

I needed to say something. Something reassuring and sweet. Yeah. "All you need to do is take some cooking classes Naminé. That way you can still be useful to us." Erk, scratch that. That just sounded terrible.

Of course, Axel to the rescue. Or in this case, to the impediment. "What he means is that maybe Zexion could give you a few tips. He's been cooking for a really long time and from what I hear, he's pretty good at it. Maybe he could take today off and show you some ways to improve so that way, the next time you want to do something nice for us, we can better appreciate it."

"Not that I'm entriely opposed to the idea," Zexion started and I grew irritated because that meant he found _some_ pleasure in the idea of being stuck with Naminé all day in the kitchen and damn it, _I liked her first_. "but who is going to go with you and Roxas on retrieval today? It's a three man job."

"We'll take Xion." Axel said triumphantly and I couldn't fight the urge to kick him under the table, so I did.

"Are you out of your mind? No way!" I shook my head and crossed my arms as I stared at Axel with my famous _"I WILL KILL YOU"_ glare. "No way I'm working with that brat!"

"Consider it done." Xemnas said calmly and I knew I was stuck now. If he declared something, it was law. "It will be a good way to prove that the two of you can work together successfully. Axel will also be judging you on your abilities to see who is truly the most useful, because if there are anymore outbursts like the one here today, somebody will have to leave our little family."


	11. Chapter 11: Really Terrible

Updating in the middle of the day on a week day! ? WHAT? THAT'S WEIRD! Oh wait, but I have a lap top. I can update while I'm at work. AWESOME! :D

So guys, this chapter makes me pretty sad. Like, I totally cried writing it. I blame my bleeding heart. Believe it or not, this actually DOES have something to do with the plot (yes, I promise there is a plot) and as sad and uncomfortable as this chapter is, I promise the next one is cute and happy and probably funny depending on your definition of funny.

OH MAN.

Ah, enjoy.

* * *

I should've been smart about this. This was my perfect chance to be booted out of this psychotic wreck of a family and be on my way. They knew I wouldn't go to the cops. They'd kill me. I'd have to spend the rest of my life going on long ass camping trips just to hide from them and I think we all know how much I loathe camping.

Yes, this was the opportunity for a simple, normal life knocking at my door. But I was too damn prideful to even consider it an option. Being booted out of the organization in favor of my sister who was _younger than me_ (five minutes and fifty-two seconds, but still) was not and option either.

The thought that they could even consider taking her over me was sickening. I'd been here longer. I was trained in what to do. I was the one that found Naminé, sort of. True, I wasn't exactly eager to do this sort of thing for the rest of my life. And, okay, maybe I wasn't exactly cut out for this.

But to choose her over me? No. It couldn't happen. It wouldn't.

And she was overly excited to be told by Axel that she'd be coming along with us on her first retrieval. It seemed unfair. I had to wait weeks to go on my first (which was yesterday, by the way) and yet here it was her first official day and she was already going out! But I didn't make a single complaint.

I would be perfect and they'd have no choice but to pick me.

Sibling rivalry at its worst.

We packed up our essentials: a bottle of water, bubble gum and hold it, wait, "A handgun?" I cocked an eyebrow up at Axel as he handed the cold piece of metal into my hand. I wasn't given this yesterday. "But I don't have a concealed weapons permit." He gave me perhaps the dumbest look he'd ever given me and Xion rolled her eyes. I realized then how stupid my statement really was. Without another word, I tucked the gun into my waistband and pulled my shirt over my pants to cover it but I could still feel Axel's eyes burning into me. "What?"

"You _do_ know how to shoot a gun, right?" He asked. That was a stupid question because he should know I didn't. But before I could answer, Xion had to open her big fat mouth.

"He doesn't. But that's okay because I do." She said a little too proudly and it was a lie, but I wasn't going to bother calling her on it. True, when we were really little my dad "taught" us how to shoot with a shotgun that he'd brought along camping, but really, he only helped us hold it while he pulled the trigger. Not quite the same thing, but it wasn't worth the arguement.

I watched Xion stare greedily at the gun Axel was about to hand her and she really made me sick. Still, the thought of her accidentally shooting herself in the toe or something was too funny to not bring a smile to my face.

Horrible, I know.

So, we packed up our essentials: a bottle of water, bubble gum and yes, a hand gun. We headed out to Axel's car and Xion called shotgun. I kept my mouth shut and didn't argue. The whole way to the retrieval she yacked and yacked on idiotically about how excited she was to finally prove how valuable she could be to the family. I still didn't say a word. We arrived at a house in the bad part of town and it looked pretty run down, worse than Naminés even.

Axel knocked on the door, no answer of course, so we made our way around to the back because there were too many witnesses outside. Yes, really.

Same as yesterday, Axel broke out a side window and we made our way in. I was determined that I was going to find something of value. Anything. But a thought quickly crossed my mind. "Axel, why did we bring guns today?"

"The guy who lives here is a meth addict. You ever try dealing with a meth addict? They're dangerous. There was no way I was coming here without protection, just incase he was home." Axel gave a quick glance around the house and I could see the disgust on his face. "But judging by the looks of it, and the smell of it, nobody has been here in a long time."

I nodded in agreement and began looking around. I pulled open drawers and rumaged through them but there didn't seem to be much of anything, let alone anything of value. Like at Naminés house, there was no electricity. No surprise there. This place was an absolute wreck and Axel was right, the smell was downright unbearable. And then Xion opened the door to the bathroom and the wave of stench flooded the whole house.

If I had to guess right away, I would've guessed rotting meat. But I would've been only half right. My sister let out a loud shriek and it was then I knew that it wasn't an ordinary odor.

It was...

"The smell of death." Axel said as he covered his mouth and nose with his arm. He stepped closer toward the bathroom and called to my sister. "There a body in there, sweetheart?"

"Uhk. About five of them!" Xion called back and I couldn't really believe what I was hearing.

Five bodies in a tiny little bathroom? No way. I rushed over and the closer I got, the sicker I felt. Now I knew what Axel meant when he said he would never forget that smell. It's the sort of thing that sticks with you your whole life. I stepped up beside my sister and peered into the bathroom but what I saw was not what I'd expected.

"Ah, that's a damn shame." Axel muttered as he stood behind us. "Mama must've died way before her babies."

I looked over my shoulder at him curiously, not really wanting to look at the sad sight before me. "What makes you say that?"

"Every animal's instinct is survival. She would've ate her babies if it meant she would live. My guess is she died some way other than starvation and her babies followed." Axel entered the bathroom and knelt before the German Shorthaired Pointer laying there with her pups snuggled against her. From where I was standing it just looked like they were asleep, cuddling and warm but the smell proved otherwise. "I'd say she's been gone for a week now. Maybe a week and a half. The puppies... probably the past few days. Maybe even as late as yesterday." He stood slowly and shook his head. "Come on, let's wrap this up fast. I don't want to be here any longer than we have to. Xion, check the bedroom. Roxas, get the kitchen. I'll finish the front room."

I nodded slowly and walked away from the bathroom. Not that I was the biggest bleeding heart in the world or anything, but anybody who could lock their animals up in a bathroom like that made me sick. I hoped we did catch the guy. I hoped he came home and Axel shot him point blank in the face. No, better. I hoped we dragged his ass back to the headquarters and Lexaeus and Xaldin took turns cracking his skull open while Xigbar busted his knees with a baseball bat.

Our search of the house proved fruitless and I felt more disgruntled than ever. This was really a horrible day. But as we were readying to leave I heard a strange noise behind the closed bathroom door. I listened closer and sure enough, I heard it again. A whimper. I opened the door, the gust of stench not hitting me quite as hard this time. I looked down and there, there worming his way out from behind the toilet was a deathly skinny, blind little black puppy. I stared at him in awe as he whimpered again, the sound almost too pathetic to even hear and I couldn't believe it had been anything other than fate that let me hear him from behind the closed door in the first place.

The poor thing had shit caked on his ass and he was so weak he could barely move. Without thinking I yanked the mildewed towel off the shower door and wrapped it around the little guy, hoisting him up into my arms and out of the house.


	12. Chapter 12: Ah, Damn It!

There was originally more to this chapter but I decided to split it into two parts because it didn't exactly flow like it should. About time I posted it since I've had it written out for over a week.

Ah, where to begin?

There's a lot I want to talk about but I don't want to give too much away. All I'll really say is that the puppy is already beginning to serve his purpose for the plot in this chapter as far as Xion and Roxas are concerned. You'll see what I mean.

The moment I'm talking about is actually a lot like my experiences with my younger siblings and seeing that despite how absolutely annoying and _wretched_ they can be, there are still moments that they are likable. Don't get me wrong, I always love my siblings. I just don't always like them and I'm sure they feel the same about me. If you've got siblings, you know what I mean.

So more attention to the sibling relationship here, the not so dark side of it.

And lulz... Demyx is solely here for gags in this story guys. He serves no purpose other than that. Gags, gags and more gags. I won't take him very seriously here, so sorry. No evil/badass Demyx this time. Maybe next time.

So much for this being a short story! D:

* * *

"Alright," Xion bellowed as she burst through my bedroom door unannounced and, guess what, she didn't knock. "Let me see it!"

I would've been really pissed under normal circumstances. It irritated the hell out of me when somebody burst into my room. Nobody around here has the manners to knock. Fortunately for Xion I was too busy trying to act nonchalaunt to be pissed off. "See what? What are you talking about?"

"I'm not stupid Roxas. I know you took something from that house. Did you think I wouldn't notice the huge bulge under your shirt the whole ride home?" My sister stared hard at me and for the first time, she made me feel stupid. It was actually pretty dumb to think nobody would notice. Axel, sure. He never paid attention to anything. Xion unfortunately had an eye for details and she would've noticed if the Pope had a cavity in his tooth on the Christmas Eve Mass broadcast...

I digress.

But as any good liar knows, you _must_ stick to your guns no matter what. "You're crazy Xion. You need your eyes checked. I didn't have anyth..." And there it was. The tiniest of sneezes and my cover was blown. Xion and I stared at each other wide eyed and I was ready to deny everything until she spun around and spotted the cardboard box in the corner of my room.

Before I could even think to stop her, she was there in an instant with the lid open. She let out a strange squeak and I couldn't tell if it was from the sight of the puppy or the joy of knowing she'd caught me. She reached in and scooped the pathetic thing out with her bare hands and I cringed because I knew how dirty he was. Then again, Xion probably didn't care. She looked at me with big round eyes and pouted. "How could you not tell me?"

"Look," I started, which is never any good way to start a sentence because it just makes you sound guilty. "I don't even think we're allowed to have pets here but I just couldn't leave it there and let it die. Look how weak he is. He needed serious help and I just couldn't walk away." Okay, yeah. Maybe I was embarrassed where I shouldn't have been. Helping a creature in need is a noble act, right? But now I seemed soft to my sister and I hated that. "I've tried giving him some milk but he won't drink."

"Of course not. He still needs a nipple." Xion coddled the pup in her arms and looked at him sadly. "We need help."

"Well what am I supposed to do, Xion? Waltz right into Axel's room and ask if I can borrow his car to go to the pet supply and get nursing bottles?" I shook my head. I really didn't want anybody knowing about this, more for my reputation than anything. Larxene would mock me for days if she found out about this, and Xigbar too for that matter.

"He'll die, Roxas!" Xion stared at me angrily this time with tears burning in her eyes. Normally when my sister pulled the water works, I knew it was all an act. This time though, I couldn't really tell.

"Alright." I groaned. "I'll go bug Axel." I tromped out of my room with no sense of urgency. Asking for help was humiliating enough as it is. Help on something like this... social suicide. Good thing I didn't have to worry about high school anymore.

I knocked on Axel's door and it took him forever to answer. When I finally saw his face, my mouth couldn't form the words to explain what I needed from him so I just grabbed his arm and dragged him to my room. He stared quietly at the sight of Xion holding the pup before looking at me skeptically. "Okay, what the hell?"

"Look, will you help us or not?" I asked, all too irritated at this moment to deal with Axel's bullshit looks. "He was alive at the house, I brought him home but we need nursing bottles or he's going to die."

"He needs a lot more than that. He needs some K9 Rebound." Axel sighed and walked over to Xion and the puppy. He examined the gangly thing a moment before turning back to me. "You got any cash?"

Did I have any cash? Was he serious? "No I don't have any cash!"

"Alright, then you owe me. Big time. And hey, let's keep this just between the three of us. I don't know how Xemnas feels about animals but something tells me the guy is a cat person." Axel said and he made his way down the hall and down the stairs and I secretly prayed that he hurried.

I walked back over to my sister and sat down across from her as she dipped her finger in the milk dish and stuck it in the pup's mouth to lick. I think that was probably the most serious I'd ever seen her in my life and for a moment, it took me out of the situation. I saw my sister as though she was someone I'd never seen before. Like all her selfishness and loudness melted away and she was some mature, sweet girl. It's a surreal feeling, really, to stare at somebody you've known forever and feel like you don't know them at all.

"Do you think he'll make it?" She asked softly and there was a trembling in her voice that said she was on the verge of tears. Wow. I never knew my sister could actually _feel_.

"I think if Axel makes it in time and we can give him that stuff, whatever it does, he'll be okay." I reached out and rubbed the pup's distended belly gently. "Maybe we should give the little guy a bath while we wait. He sure does stink."

Xion shook her head and looked at me as though I were stupid. "We can't bathe him. That could kill him. We need a warm wash cloth to wipe him down like his mother would've done with her tongue."

I cringed at the thought of what Xion just said. Considering what was caked onto the little thing, the tongue seemed like the last thing any creature would want to use to clean him. But she was right. Placing his whole body in water could put him into shock and I really didn't think he could handle that. I made my way down to the kitchen where I had seen a bucket earlier today. I could fill it with warm water and bring it back upstairs so we wouldn't have to sit on the cold tile in the bathroom. Besides that, the bathroom was connected to Demyx's room too and he was the last person I wanted seeing the pup. Blabber mouth.

I stepped into the kitchen and to my surprise, Naminé was still in there practicing away with Zexion standing over her shoulder in an almost frightening way. He looked like a stern teacher ready to wrack her nuckles with a ruler if she messed up even once which told me that she'd been messing up this whole entire time. I pitied her but at least he was being a strict jerk instead of some suave ladies man trying to romance her. I still had my plans for her...

I cleared my throat to get their attention because Zexion looked tense and I didn't want to surprise him and have him throw a knife at me. I wouldn't put it past the guy, honestly. "Excuse me, I need to get the bucket."

"It's over there under that table." He said and he didn't even bother to look at me. Just pointed to the object. Naminé however turned around to face me cheerily until Zexion slammed his hand down on the top of her head and forced her to spin back around. "Eyes on the food, girl."

"I'll just... I'll just uh, get it and be gone." I muttered. Yes, Zexion being a prick was _awesome_. Without competion from him, the only one even remotely close to my age, I actually stood a chance. And that reminded me. Girls like animals! "H-hey Naminé," Yeah, I stammered. Shut up, nobody asked you. "When you're all done here, you should come up to my room. There's something really special I want to show you." Okay, that sounded bad and I could tell by both Naminé and Zexion's bulging eyes that they thought so too. "N-nothing dirty or anything... well, I mean it _is_ dirty now but that's what this bucket is for. So it'll be all clean for you." Again? Wow, I was a master with my words today. "It's something you'll want to see. I promise. Xion will be there too. And Axel. This is completely innocent, honest."

"Nothing is innocent with Axel involved." Zexion turned to look at me this time and cut the gas on the stove so that Naminé couldn't burn the food. "What've you three done?"

"Done?" I cocked an offended eyebrow because Zexion automatically assumed we'd caused some form of chaos. Really? Axel yes and Xion, maybe. But me? No. I was too cool for that sort of thing. "We haven't done anything. We just found something neat while we were out today and I wanted to show Naminé."

"You collected something from the retrieval site?" Zexion's stern glare turned a little sterner and I paniced. Shit, I forgot how seriously he took this stuff. "Anything you collect is property of the whole organization, whether it is of value or not. You need to turn it over to Xemnas."

"You know what? Forget I said anything." I turned around quickly with my bucket in hand and started out of the kitchen. "See you later Naminé. See ya Zex!" But no. Oh, no that wasn't good enough.

I could hear Zexion storming after me with Naminés curious little pitter patter behind him. Why? Why did I have to open my big mouth? Why didn't I wait until Naminé was alone? I entered my room and closed the door behind me but damn it all, I didn't have a lock. Apparently Zexion was a lot stronger than he looked because even with all my weight on the door, he had no problem busting in.

He glared at me a moment and I thought for sure he was going to punch me but a loud squeak from Naminé broke the silence in the room. "A puppy!"

"A puppy?" Zexion turned to face Naminé who was already on her hands and knees before Xion cooing like a moron to the pup. He turned his gaze back to me and he looked less angry. Just irritated. "You brought a dog into the house?"

"It's a long story." I started but I quickly realized I didn't need to explain. Zexion turned away from me and walked over to examine the dog.

But just when I thought things would be okay afterall, Demyx burst into my room through the bathroom door shouting "Did somebody say something about a dog?" although it sounded more like "Mmph mrmph mmm mrmfurmph mmphurm mu murph" because he was brushing his teeth. Great, just what I needed. The biggest loud mouth in the house running around and telling everyone about the new pet.

"It's not what you think Demyx!" I tried, but I was too late. He was already on the ground beside the girls mumbling something with his tooth brush hanging out of his mouth but I couldn't understand him. And as though matters couldn't get worse, I heard Larxene's shrill voice making its way up the stairs. Just great. Absolutely great. Wherever Larxene was, Marluxia was sure to be there too and it seemed that Luxord liked to follow just so he could negate every cruel thing Larxene said to somebody. That was three more people to find out about this...

There goes my rep...


	13. Chapter 13: Lame?

LAWL, FISH and CHIPS and WHISKEY and BEER and ROCKY HORROR! *sing song*

Nothing like home fried fish and chips with two shots of whiskey and a dark lager to wash it all down while I watch Tim Curry in all his glory... Mmm... Damn, that voice. It makes me wanna update! SO I WILL!

So I figure I will update today (tonight) because this Saturday I will be taking my grandmother to see the Winchester Mystery Mansion for her birthday (yes, her birthday is September 11th) because she's turning 71 and I want her to be able to see it while she's still able to without much difficulty.

Geeze, this is my FOURTH trip to the Winchester house! Can you believe that? NUMBER 4! I love that place. I'm sure going to miss it when I move to Wyoming. If I thought 4 hours was a long drive, I must be kidding myself.

So yes, anyway. Saturday is all booked up for San Jose and Sarah Winchester and my grandma. Sorry guys! D:

So anyway, this chapter is short. Mostly because it was part of the previous chapter but as I stated before, it didn't flow right so I split it up. Sorry for the shortness.

Man, this story is going to be WAY longer than I thought it was. HUZZAH!

Enjoy.

* * *

By the time Axel got back, the whole house was in my room. Well, not literally. Vexen, Xaldin, Saïx and Xemnas were apparently gone from the house but everyone else was in my room. Demyx had rushed to tell Xigbar about the pup and Larxene had overheard. Following Larxene was of course Luxord who was curious and Marluxia accompanied them to my room stating that he was bored. Lexaeus had heard all the commotion and decided to come up as well. No surprise, none of them knocked.

Axel looked completely flabbergasted when he entered my room and everyone was crowding around to see the dog. Well, not everyone. Xigbar and Larxene stood in the corner mocking me of course.

I could only give him a sheepish smile and shrug.

"Good job, keeping it between just the three of us." Axel mused quietly as he tossed the bag of supplies he'd bought into my arms. "Let me guess, Demyx's loud mouth?"

"Hey! Not me!" Demyx said irritably. "I overheard Zexion!"

"Roxas was trying to impress Naminé." Zexion said plainly. Damn him, how did he know? "Of course I was suspicious and so I came to investigate. I assume you've known about this from the start, Axel?"

"Nope. I didn't find out until ten minutes ago. This one was all our little Roxy's doing." Axel grinned widely and ruffled my hair but I was too irritated with everybody else to do more than slap his hand away.

I clutched the bag of supplies and started over to where my sister sat. The pup was clean now. I don't know how she did it, but Naminé had managed to give the little guy a good scrub down while everybody was clambering around him. I reached into the bag and pulled out the puppy bottles and the box of what appeared to be that K9 rebound stuff but I quickly realized there was no puppy formula and I now knew he needed that. "Uhm, Axel?"

"Oh yeah, so the lady at the store said they were all out of formula mix. But she gave me this recipe..." He paused and pulled a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket. "She said to crush up one tablet of the K9 Rebound and add it to the mix once a day."

I took the piece of paper from Axel's hands and unfolded it. The recipe was extensive, tedious looking. And I didn't even know if we had dehydrated milk. That was something grandmas kept around in case of emergencies. "I don't have time to do all this, Axel. Can't we just use regular milk?"

"I'll do it!" Naminé piped up and snatched the piece of paper from my hands. "I'm sure I can do it."

"I'll help her." Zexion muttered and he began to follow the excited girl out of the room. "We can't afford for her to screw _this_ up."

"Shouldn't we boil the bottles?" Demyx asked. "That's what they do with baby bottles and he's kinda like a baby."

"Go for it." Axel said and he snatched the package of bottles from my hand, shoving them in Demyx's direction. "Bout time your lazy ass does something around here. And speaking of lazy asses..." I suppressed a chuckle as he turned his gaze to Larxene. "Larxene, why don't you go find that ratty old blanket you used to carry around when you were a kid and let the puppy have something to sleep on? It isn't like you're still using it."

I watched her face flood red as she huffed and stomped out of the room, Luxord and Marluxia following. My gaze flew to Xigbar who stood against the wall chuckling to himself. He muttered something about Vexen being allergic to dogs before patting Axel's shoulder and vacating the room himself.

"I could take those pills down to Naminé." Lexaeus offered, his massive hand outstreched toward the box in mine. "I'll crush them up for the little guy."

"Thanks." I said, still a little unused to hearing his voice. I handed the box to him and watched him quietly exit my room. Then it was just the four of us again. Xion, Axel, me and the pup.

The little thing let out a whine and Axel chuckled, kneeling down to pet it. "You did a good thing, Rox. You know that, right?" He turned his gaze to me and I smiled proudly. Yeah, he was exactly right. I _did_ do a very good thing.

I sat down beside Axel and reached out to scratch the pup behind his ears. "What are we going to do when Xemnas finds out? I mean, didn't Xigbar just say something about Vexen being allergic to dogs? And Saïx is so strict, I know that whatever rules Xemnas has set down, he'll inforce it to the max. What if we can't keep him?"

"I think if it was a big deal, Xigbar and Lexaeus would've said something. Don't you?" Xion asked quietly. "I mean, sure, Xigbar was busting your balls but he never once said we couldn't keep the poor thing. If the adults in the house don't mind, I think we're okay."

"Hey! What do you mean "the _adults_" in the house? I'm 26 years old, missy!" Axel said with a huff but he quickly laughed it off. "You're right though. Xigbar definitely would've told us to get rid of him if it was going to be a big issue with Xemnas. Vexen may pitch a fit, but I don't think Xemnas will be too angry. Especially when we explain the situation. Now we just have to think of a name for him."

"A name?" I looked to Axel curiously. Oh yes, he was one of _those _people that names every stray they bring home even though they know they can't keep it. But I knew a name would be far better for this gangly little mutt than just referring to him as "the pup" or "the little guy" or any of the thousand other little nicknames people give animals. I turned my gaze to the pup and thought seriously for a moment. "Well, how about Lucky? He was lucky to have survived what he did. That makes it fitting."

"No way! That's lame!" Xion shouted. Of course she had to argue. Just when I thought she could actually be likable, she had to disagree with me. "Come on, look at him! He's totally blind and ridiculous looking. He has a knobby head and string bean limbs. We should call him Goofy!"

"After a fucking Disney, character? Are you serious Xion?" I crossed my arms and stared at my sister dangerously, ready to defend my name choice with everything I had. "Talk about lame! At least the name I chose wasn't from something so childish and gay as _Disney_!"

"Think again, moron! Lucky was the name of one of the puppies in "101 Dalmatians" and they even named him Lucky because he almost didn't live!" Xion retorted oh so matter-of-factly and I snapped my mouth shut. How could I argue with that? How could I forget one of my favorite scenes from one of my all time favorite movies growing up?

"W-well I still like Lucky better and I found him so..." But before I could finish, Axel slapped his hands over both mine and Xion's mouths and we turned our heads to face him.

"Chill out! Both names are great. We'll take a vote with the house later. But for right now, shouting is not going to help the little guy at all." Axel pulled his hands from our mouths and both Xion and I nodded our heads. I think that was the first time an argument ended without one of us storming off in a fit of rage.

It was odd, but it was nice.

"Alright..." I muttered. "But no matter what, he sleeps in my room."


	14. Chapter 14: Not So Lame

Hey guys! Sorry it took so long for me to update. I had some real life drama that stemmed from the abuse of the internet (not on my part) that made me really question continuing to use the internet.

SOMEHOW, certain people who have no business knowing the goings on in my life WHAT-SO-EVER knew where I was moving to (among other things) which is none of their business. The only place on the internet that I told anybody where I was going was here on FF. AND since I have no way of keeping track of who comes here and who doesn't I was majorly considering just quitting the site. I was also considering making a new account and just saying to hell with this one but then how do I tell all my subscribers without unwanted people finding out?

But no. No, fuck that. I will not let anyone stop me from doing one of the things I love. I have few pleasures in this life and drawing and writing are the two major ones. Why the fuck would I let anybody stop me from doing that, just because they're so _obsessed_ with me they can't control themselves and they worship the fucking ground I walk on? (Cause seriously, that's what it seems like so if you don't like that I see it that way then fucking quit treating me like I'm your goddess already. I know you want to be me so badly, but face reality. You just can't be. I'm better than you could ever dream to be and I don't even have to try. Obviously I'm right if you're both still so hung up on me you can't go a month without knowing what I'm up to.)

So my solution is to quit talking to you guys about my life, even in private message. You guys know there's nothing I love more than feeling close to my readers and being able to bs with you guys on a personal level but at this point I just can't do that anymore. From now on my author's notes will be entirely related to the chapter and nothing more. As per usual, I don't reply to reviews because I don't like the idea of replying to some but not others (and I refuse waste my time replying to the "UPDATESOONS") so chances are there won't be any PMs from me but don't expect anything personal in those either.

Sorry that one douche bag is ruining this for the rest of you, but isn't that normally how life works anyway? So I hope you enjoyed my last rant... I know I did.

Now enjoy this chapter!

* * *

"Alright!" Demyx yelled as he handed the top hat in my direction. Where he'd found the top hat, I had no idea. "Put in your votes and we'll tally them up. The name with the most votes wins."

"You don't have to explain it, moron. I think everybody here knows how voting works." Larxene said with a light snort as she dropped her folded up piece of paper into the hat.

I watched the others do the same before scribbling the name Lucky down on my scrap of paper and following suit. Once everybody in the room had placed their votes, Demyx sat down and began to count them. "Wait," I started. "Shouldn't we wait for everybody to vote? I mean, Xemnas and the others..."

"Forget it. They wouldn't be interested in this sort of thing." Xigbar said as he motioned to Demyx. "Now hurry up and tally them so we can go to bed!"

"Alright, I'm doing it! Geeze! Let's see... three for Goofy and five for Lucky." I smiled as I heard this but my face quickly fell as I could see Demyx pull out the last two papers and they were both marked Goofy. "Uh oh, looks like we have a tie."

"A tie?" Xion stood quickly and stormed over to Demyx's hat. "That doesn't make sense! There's eleven of us here! Who didn't vote?"

"Naminé." Zexion said quickly and I didn't like how observant he was of the fact that she wasn't there. "She's been in the kitchen with the pup this whole time."

"Well then, she has to vote!" Xion demanded. I had to agree. Naminé needed to vote... _for Lucky_. The whole group of us stood from the broken down furniture in the living room and made our way to the kitchen.

I cringed as Xion burst through the kitchen door, probably causing more fright to Naminé than was actually necessary

"You didn't vote!" Demyx whined and I rolled my eyes. He was retarded, seriously.

"That's right!" Larxene said as she elbowed her way to the front of the group. "Voting is important and you didn't do it!"

"I... I didn't know we were voting for something. I'm sorry." Naminé stammered out and my heart broke for her. How _dare_ they be so rude to sweet, innocent little Naminé! She was an angel! A saint!

"It's alright Naminé." I said kindly. "_Somebody_, namely Demyx, should've told you we were taking a vote. We're voting on what we should name the pup. The two choices are Lucky and Goofy... and you have the deciding vote. You can vote for Lucky, which is fitting for the little guy. _Or_ you could vote for Goofy, which is lame."

"Hey! You can't influence her vote like that, you little shit!" Larxene shrieked at me. Figures. I knew she voted for Goofy just to spite me.

"Let's just calm down." Luxord said quickly before I could mouth off back to Larxene. Damn peace keeper. He's that douchey "make love not war" kind of guy, and believe me, it can be annoying. I didn't complain though, since I knew he was one of the ones that voted for Lucky. I could just tell by the way his eyes lit up when he heard the name that it was one he would've chose himself. "I'm sure Naminé will make her own decision despite what you both obviously feel about the names. So, lovely, what will it be?"

Naminé looked at the group of faces surrounding her with wide eyes. She looked frightened. "W-well, I... I really like both names." She started and I smiled because she seemed really nervous. Nervous meant that she was about to piss Larxene off which meant she'd chosen Lucky. "I think that Lucky is just adorable, and Goofy has great personality. But if I had to choose... well, Lucky is just not right." And I froze. "We really don't know if he'll live that long at all. And really, who's to say he's lucky to have survived? His mother is dead and that's so sad. Maybe he'd be better off with her than with us. Maybe he's not lucky at all. Certainly not, after everything he went through."

"How very logical of you." Zexion said with a grin and the bastard looked too proud. My face of course had fallen to despair.

"So you mean you're choosing Goofy?" I asked. Why did I ask? It wasn't as though she hadn't made it clear enough for me.

"I'm sorry, Roxas. I think Goofy is just a more fitting name. This poor little guy is blind and in very poor health. There doesn't seem to be much luck in that. Besides, Goofy is just way too perfect!" Naminé said with a smile and if she wasn't so damn cute I would've been totally pissed.

"That's alright." I muttered. "I understand."

"Well, that was anti-climatic!" Xigbar said probably as loud as he possibly could. I watched him stretch, readying himself to go bed when the sound of the front door opening and slamming closed could be heard.

We all froze and I could practically see the skin crawling on some of the others, likely fearing it to be Xemnas or Saïx. Silence filled the air as we all looked around at each other nervously until we heard a loud sneeze followed by another equally loud sneeze. Larxene's witch cackle then filled the silence and we all relaxed. It was just Vexen.

"Good luck with that." Larxene mocked before making her exit from the kitchen. What a bitch.

"No kidding. I don't wanna be around for _that _bitch fit." Demyx said. The little chicken shit weaseled his way past the others to the exit and most everyone followed. Not that I blamed them really. Vexen could be... oh, what's the word? Arduous, exhausting, taxing, I could go on and on really. It was just irritating that they were all willing to have the pup, er... _Goofy _around but they weren't exactly willing to deal with all the responsibility of it.

Zexion and Lexaeus stuck around in the kitchen and if Axel had even thought about moving his feet I would've laid him out flat. He wasn't going to get out of this. Xion of course stayed and Naminé couldn't really budge because she had the pup in one hand and a bottle in the other.

We all stood just looking at each other as we waited for the inevitable. Footsteps and sneezes approached. The kitchen was their destination, we knew, because Xaldin and Vexen had been on grocery duty this week. They drew closer and closer until...

"Damn it, if I didn't know any better I'd say someone brought an animal in the house! Unless that Naminé girl has been cleaning and kicking up dust I... I... uh... HACHOOK!" And that was when the kitchen door opened and Xaldin and Vexen stood in the door way. All eyes were on the two of them, with the exception of their own eyes which were plastered on Naminé. "Wh-what the hell is... is... HACHOOK!"

"We can explain." I started but it didn't seem like Vexen would be able to hear me over the sneeze fit he was in the midst of having. I turned to Naminé so that I could help her stand so that she could leave with the pup but I saw with despair that Zexion was already there lifting her up from the ground and ushering her out of the room. Okay, so he wasn't exactly being gentle about it but I still didn't want _him_ to be the one doing it.

After Naminé and Goofy were clear from the room and Vexen's sneezing had decreased (but not ceased) we had a chance to explain ourselves. "Look, when I brought the dog home I never thought that..."

"Vexen is highly allergic to animals. Most everyone here knows that." Xaldin said as he crossed his arms over his massive chest and I cringed because if he chose to hit me, POOF! I'd desintigrate. "Need we be reminded of the kitten incident from a couple of years ago? Or the time Demyx came home after helping a woman track down her chihuahua? Axel, you are responsible for Roxas and Xion when you're out on retrieval and you allowed this to happen."

"It isn't Axel's fault!" Xion said and she jumped in front of him as if she would be able to protect him at all. I knew what would happen next. She'd throw me under the bus to make herself look good to Axel and they'd kick me and my homely dog out on our bony asses. But what she said next was not at all what I'd expected. "It was my fault. I noticed right away that Roxas was hiding something when we got in the car and I should've said something. If I had, this wouldn't have happened."

Xaldin's terrifying gaze flew from my sister to Axel. I was still cringing because within that proximity I was collateral damage. "Is that the truth, Axel?"

I heard Axel's breath catch in his throat and he looked to both me and Xion. He looked nervous as hell but he quickly hid it behind a smile and planted his hands on his hips. "Ah, come on. Give the kids a break. It was my job to be completely aware of everything pertaining to them and I didn't do it. It was my responsibility and I failed."

"Coincidentally, we're all to blame." Zexion said as he stepped forward. He was about my size so I don't know what the hell he thought he could do against Xaldin but I didn't question it. If he died then I had Naminé all to myself for sure. "I was the third person to discover the dog after Xion and Axel. I am as much to blame as anybody else. Everyone that was here found out about the dog and never once did anyone say we should get rid of it. Rather, we all participated in helping to care for it. However, I take full responsibility. I should've encouraged everyone the take rational actions instead of going along with the decision to keep it."

Oh no. No, he was _not _going to play the hero here and take all the blame just so he could look good to Naminé. "Actually, Xigbar told us that Vexen had allergies and I didn't care. I kinda just disregarded it so I'm really the one to blame. Nobody else."

Xaldin stared at us for a long moment and he looked like he was unsure of what to do. It was obvious he'd never been presented with so many people willing to take blame before. He sighed and held his head in his hands before turning his gaze to Lexaeus. "I would expect this from Axel and the newcomers and I could see how Zexion may be swayed... but you?"

"They found him in a bathroom with his dead mother and siblings laying all around him. The mother had been dead for at least a week. He would have died if Roxas hadn't saved him. Could you really sit back and knowingly let an innocent life fade away, Xaldin?" Lexaeus asked. He had an intense gaze in his eyes and for a moment he and Xaldin just stared at each other, unmoving. I was sure if they got into a fist fight over this the whole kitchen would be destroyed, the rest of us along with it.

Man, I don't know why I was always expecting somebody to get violent. Nobody ever did...

"Vexen has allergies, though there is a remedy for that. Several, actually, and most of them he can get over the counter." Zexion started. "There is only one remedy for this situation and I think we know what that is. Xemnas truly has the final say but I'm sure that once he hears Goofy's story..."

And Xaldin's face went right into his hand again. "You _named_ it?"

"We took a vote." I said quickly. Really, I should've just kept my mouth shut but there was no way I was going to let him think I'd chose that stupid name. "Goofy won."

"I know that we should've took Vexen's allergies into consideration but we weren't thinking about that at all. We were thinking about Goofy and the best way to keep him alive." Xion said with a smile. Of course I knew she'd get her away. That always worked with dad so why not here? "At least he's a short haired dog."

It was quiet then. Well, as quiet as it could be with Vexen sneezing constantly. Xaldin stared at us and we stared at him and then he let out a sigh. "Alright, but he stays in Roxas' room only! And when Xemnas gets back..."

And like clockwork we heard the front door open. Again, the room grew tense. Vexen however wasted no time rushing to find whoever had come into the house, be it Saïx or Xemnas himself. Then there was silence again, aside from Vexen's sneezes in the distance. Then the sneezing got closer again and Vexen's face was scowling in the doorway. "Xemnas wants the three of you in his office right n-n- HACHOOK! Right _now_!"

We looked at each other, Axel, Xion and I. We were nervous but Axel gave us that wink that said_ "Don't worry, I'll take the heat." _and we followed him out into the hall. He lead us up the stairs slowly and we didn't say a word to each other which I thought was odd. I thought we might at least try to get our stories straight but then I suppose that wasn't necessary. It wasn't as though we were going to lie about it and if we did, Xemnas would've caught us. I was a terrible liar.

We stopped outside Xemnas' office which I think was also his bedroom. Axel knocked and Saïx wasted no time in forcing the door open and directing us inside. Clearly he wanted to be there to watch us fry. We shuffled our way in and yes, this was in fact Xemnas' bedroom but he only had a full sized bed for sleeping in. The rest was a desk and a few filing cabnets. Talk about taking himself too seriously. We took a seat on the couch in the corner of the room. I took note that everything in this room was really nice. Why didn't I have nice things?

Saïx took a seat beside Xemnas and stared hard at us across the room. I thought this was supposed to be a meeting with Xemnas. Apparently I thought wrong because Saïx was the one to start speaking. "Vexen tells us you brought an animal into the house."

Xion nodded quickly. "Yes, but..."

"Be quiet! I'm not done speaking!" Saïx snapped and I scowled. Nobody can talk to my sister that way! Well, except for me. But I wasn't going to argue with him because he scared the shit out of me. "Axel, I know it has been some time since you've heard the rules and you scarcely have needed to be reminded of them. Roxas, it has been a few weeks and it was a brief run over so I understand that it may have slipped your mind and considering Demyx was the one giving you the rules, well, I can imagine he may have forgotten some things. However, Xion, I personally explained the rules of this house in great detail to you this morning. Were you merely not paying attention or did you purposely discard the no pet rule?"

"It slipped my mind at first, but with the situation the way it was I just thought that..." Xion tried, but Saïx cut her off again.

"So you are fully aware that you disregarded one of our rules. You came to us claiming that you wanted nothing more than a chance to prove how useful you can be and all you've proven thus far is that you can not follow the most simple of rules." Saïx's eyes narrowed on my sister bitterly. Whatever the hell his problem with her was, I had no idea but this was ridiculous. "Perhaps we were wrong to allow you to stay."

"This was my fault!" I shouted and before I even knew what I was doing, I was on my feet with my hands clenched at my sides. Whatever, it had Saïx caught off guard so I was gonna roll with it. "I was the one that found the pup! He was barely alive and he was lucky enough to be alive! He'd been trapped in a bathroom for who knows how long with his dead mother and other pups. I couldn't just leave him there and knowingly let him die so I picked him up and I snuck him under my shirt and brought him back here! And since then everybody in this house, _including _Xigbar and Lexaeus have been helping me take care of it! I take full responsibility for this and for guilting everyone else into helping me!" I sat down but I quickly stood back up. "And maybe Demyx is a little bit to blame because he did forget to mention the no pet rule... but that's it." And then I sat down again.

Saïx stared at me and I couldn't really tell what emotion was on his face, but he looked at a loss for words. Xemnas however was smiling. For some reason, Xemnas smiling made me nervous. Then he spoke. "In your opinion, Roxas, would you say that your pup has brought our little family closer together?"

Oh god, what was the right answer? "Y-yes! I mean, everybody seemed interested in helping out. Even Larxene gave up a blanket for him to sleep on. We all took a vote concerning his name and everything."

And Xemnas' scary smile grew wider. "And what is his name?"

"Goofy. Goofy because he's all black and gangly. And blind." I answered. I stared down at my lap because I could feel eyes burning into me and I didn't want to have to meet those eyes.

"You do realize..." Xemnas started and I was sure he was going to finish with _"we're kicking your ass out." _but he didn't. Instead... "taking care of a dog is a great responsibility. You can't rely on everyone else to still be interested a week from now or a year from now. That's how they are. They get excited over something new and then they get bored, like children. This dog will be soley _your _responsibility and if you aren't ready to accept that then I can't allow you to keep him. Do you understand, Roxas?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Y-yes. Th-thank you!"

"You're excused." Xemnas said with a wave of his hand and the three of us just breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't take long for us to make our way out into the hall and once we were out there we stood staring at each other a moment before bursting into hysterical laughter. I don't know why we were laughing but it felt good.

It looked like things would be alright after all.


	15. Chapter 15: It's NOT Like That

Bah, sorry it took a while to update again. Had another bout of stalking... Dumb bitch stole a picture from her friend's facebook and pretended to be somebody else *snort* like I wouldn't find out. Pfft... like I was stupid enough to not suspect her right from the get go... OH GEEZE GAIS!

Fuck, I must just really be the best thing in the world.

Alright, all that dumb shit aside...

This may seem like a filler chapter but aren't they all? Lol, no. It's kinda filler but not really. I've come to terms with the fact that this story is going to be way longer than I'd intended. My original goal was thirteen chapters. Oops... Ha ha!

So yes, enjoy! May end up posting the next chapter soon. Maybe not. We'll see.

Also, new pole on my profile homepage! PLEASE VOTE!

* * *

"Xemnas said you could keep him?" Naminé asked with her big, bright eyes sparkling at me as I entered my room to tell her the good news. My heart melted instantly.

"Y-yeah." I replied. Geeze, I must've sounded so dumb with my stammering. I took a seat beside her on my bedroom floor and smiled. "I think instead of angry, Xemnas was just impressed that everybody managed to come together for the little guy."

"He still needs a lot of love and attention. He's not out of the woods yet. But I'm sure that with everyone taking care him, he'll be fine." Naminé rubbed Goofy's belly gently and smiled. "And at least I found something I'm good at cooking! Puppy formula. Zexion says I should just focus on making that instead of trying to cook for humans."

I stifled a laugh because even though Zexion never seemed to try and provide humor with his asshole comments, sometimes they were still funny. And now that we were on the topic of Zexion I could find out just what Naminé thought of him. That way I could gage on how much competition he really was. "He said that, huh? So you guys are probably pretty close now, spending all day together cooking and stuff."

Naminé looked away from me and blushed a bright red. Just_ great_, she totally had a crush on him. "Promise not to say anything if I tell you a secret?"

I totally did _not_ want to hear this, but okay. "I won't say anything."

She looked to me then and her blush got brighter. "He scares the crud out of me!"

And I had to fight back another laugh only this time I was a lot less successful. "Really? I mean, yeah he can seem pretty intense sometimes but, scary?"

"Well, yeah! And he makes me mad too, but I'm too afraid to say anything to him. All day he chastised me for my bad cooking and treated me like I wasn't even trying! But I _was_ trying! I was just having a hard time unlearning all those bad habits I'd gotten over the years. But whenever I tried to talk back he'd give me this stare like... I don't know, this just really creepy _"I'm about to stab you."_ stare and I couldn't say a word! I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life!" Naminé said as she threw her hands in the air.

I chuckled because she was more animated than I'd seen her in the past day with her exasperated face and her frantic hand movements. Poor Goofy was lulling around in her lap trying to get comfortable which I imagine was very difficult. But a question popped into my mind.

"More scared than when we came to your house and found you under the bed?" I _had_ to ask. And that was stupid because why the hell would I bring that crap up? I should be minimizing it, not reminding her of it. "I'm really sorry about that, by the way."

"It's okay. I've been used as collateral before. At least here everybody is a lot nicer. That's not saying much but at least I'm having fun. And at least I have good company." Naminé smiled and reached out her hand to grip mine. AAAAAAAAAND my heart totally fluttered, but let's ignore that. "You're a nice guy, Roxas. I know you were just doing your job."

"I never asked for this. Up until a little while ago I was collateral too. But my dad isn't coming. Nobody's parents are coming for them. Everyone here, they're just like us Naminé. Axel and the others... they're all collateral. Well, except my sister. She wanted to be here." I rolled my eyes and reached out to scratch Goofy behind the ears. "Go figure."

"Your sister is nice." Naminé said with a smile. I had to question her sincerity in saying this because she was talking about the same girl that had totally trashed and embarrassed her this very morning. I suppose they bonded over Goofy though. Girls are just weird like that. "At first she seemed like she didn't like me but then I realized she was only telling the truth about my cooking. Everything else she said was more directed toward you."

Ouch. The sting of honesty. "Yeah well, Xion and I don't always see eye to eye. I mean, she's my sister. Siblings always hate each other."

"I don't hate my brother." Naminé said with a confused look on her face. "I love my little brother more than anything. He's my whole world." And then her face fell to a look of sadness. "I sure hope he's okay."

Of course I felt bad. I didn't know why we couldn't take both Naminé and her little brother with us but obviously there was a reason. I had to comfort her though, even if I knew it was a lie. "Don't worry. I'm sure your parents came back home and found out what happened. They're probably scrounging up the cash so that they can get you back as we speak."

She looked so sad as she wrapped her arms around Goofy to coddle him and shook her head. "No... I don't think they will. They probably haven't even come home yet. They probably won't be home for a whole other week. Then when they do see that I'm gone, they'll call Riku. He'll be the one to come get me, not them."

"Riku?" My curiosity was peaked. This was the first mention of anybody she may have known that would come pick her up. "Who's Riku, if you don't mind me asking?"

Her face got pink again and I feared the worst. Just great, she had a boyfriend. And here this whole time I was worried about Zexion. "He's just a friend of the family. He lives down in Las Vegas and he's kind of involved in a little organized crime. He doesn't give my parents money for their habit or anything but when a situation arises like this, well, he doesn't hesitate to come to my rescue. He's a really good person."

I scoffed because I already didn't like this guy. Naminés knight in shining armor? No way! "He can't be all that good if he's involved in organized crime, Naminé."

And she scowled at me which was odd because I didn't think she had the capacity to scowl. "You're involved in organized crime. Does that make _you_ bad?"

I should've just bit my tongue instead of pissing off the girl I was trying to pick up on. Too late now, time to make some jokes. "There's nothing organized about this. I mean really, I'm sure you've seen that by now." But she wasn't biting. She just looked angrier. But I had nothing else so I had to keep cracking jokes. "I mean, come on. Have you _seen_Demyx's half of the bathroom? I can imagine what the guy's room looks like! And don't even get me started on Axel's room! You saw the floorboard of his Mustang! Just imagine that, but ten times worse!" And she cracked a smile, but she still looked pretty mad. Oh well, time to swallow my pride. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad. I just meant that there's kind of a difference between wanting to be involved in something like this and being forced into it."

"Well who are you to say whether or not he's been forced into it? You don't know Riku. For all you know, he's in the exact same situation as you." Naminé huffed and crossed her arms.

I could use this to my advantage. "So, what, you got the hots for the guy or something? Cause, if you've got a boyfriend then..."

Naminés face turned bright red almost instantly. "He's not my boyfriend. He's just a friend of the family. And what does it matter if I have a boyfriend or not?"

I smirked and looked away from her to seem nonchalant. Yeah, I was sooooo smooth. "Well, cause if you had a boyfriend it would change everything."

Naminé looked at me and coddled Goofy in her arms again. "What do you mean? What would it change?"

"Oh... nothing." I grinned and laid back on my floor which was incredibly uncomfortable because the whole house was hardwood flooring, save for the tiled bathrooms. I was still trying to play it nonchalant. "Just certain things, that's all."

"Like _what_?" She practically whined and I snickered because it was too cute. Yes, she was putty in my hands now.

I sat back up and smiled at her. Where my normal bumbling self had gone, I didn't know but I was full of confidence now. I had to be if I wanted to get the girl. Those cheesy 90's movies where the nerd gets the hot chick? Yeah, those are bull shit. "Well, if you had a boyfriend then I guess I'd have to stop liking you so much."

Naminés face turned red again. I really liked how easily flustered she got. "You _like_ me?"

"Well I thought it was kind of obvious." I said and this was true. I figured that after Xion opened her big fat mouth this morning, Naminé knew that I liked her. Apparently I was wrong. "You're pretty and sweet. What's not to like about you?"

Naminé looked away quickly. "You've only known me for a little over a day."

"Well it's not like I'm declaring my undying love or someth-" And I froze because I wasn't expecting to feel Naminés hand on mine again. I looked at her but she was avoiding my gaze. I felt a lump of nerves crawl into my throat but I quickly swallowed them down and wrapped a hesitant arm around Naminés shoulder to pull her against me. We sat in silence, both of us really too tense to even move, and we stayed like that for a really long time. It was nice.


	16. Chapter 16: A Payday?

Ah, this story is just getting more and more ridiculous! I LOVE IT!

If you're thinking that it's really too soon for Roxas to be falling for Nam, you couldn't be more right! He IS a fifteen year old boy, however. We all know how love comes (and goes) easily for those with a low maturity level. And Roxas' maturity level is about as low as it goes. It also doesn't help that the only other girls in the house are a frigid bitch and his sister. So of course he's going to get a crush. I promise, this crush story arc won't last long. I plan to kill it hard and fast.

Ha ha, I'm like the Bleach Anime with all my ridiculous side arcs that have nothing to do with the actual storyline what-so-ever! :D

Now let's get on with it! Enjoy!

* * *

"What's this?" I asked as Axel handed and envelope into my face.

"It's payday, baby!" Axel grinned widely and ruffled my hair. "Which reminds me. You owe me about twenty-five bucks so pay up, kiddo."

"Twenty-five! For what?" I shrieked, but I quickly remembered that yes, indeed I did owe Axel money for the bottles and meds for Goofy. At the time I thought it was a joke because how the hell was I supposed to pay him back with no money? How was I supposed to know we got a paycheck?

"Hey, I paid for the stuff for _your_ dog. And normally I'd say don't worry about it but I'm planning on fixing up my Mustang and I need as much cash as I can get." He smiled proudly and patted his own envelope. "I've been saving as much as I can."

"I didn't know we got paid." I said dumbly. "How does it work, exactly? I mean, Xemnas doesn't keep books or anything, does he?" No, he can't be _that_ anal. Then again...

"Saïx takes care of the books and stuff. We get what is pretty much a monthly allowance based on what kind of work we do. Chores around the house like cleaning and laundry and cooking earn us money. Shopping is another chore. Going out on retrievals also counts as a chore and depending on what you bring back, it affects the amount of your allowance. You brought back Naminé so your pay should be pretty good this month. Same for me since I brought you back. Basically, the more work you do the more money you make. But Saïx also makes sure to rotate the laundry and grocery duties so no one person can bogard all the work for themselves. That keeps it fair." Axel smiled and patted my shoulder excitedly. "Also, the money you earn goes toward groceries for yourself. We have the normal stuff, eggs, milk, bread, lunchmeat. But if you want anything special you have to put it on the list and put the money in the grocery jar. I'll show you where it is later."

My head was spinning with all of this info. Damn, Demyx really did leave a lot of important shit out. I clutched my envelope trying to process all this before a sickening thought hit me. I didn't have a bank account anywhere and opening one wouldn't be as simple as just waltzing in and signing up. My dad had all of my information with him, including my social security card and sue me, but I didn't have my number memorized. "How am I supposed to cash the check? I don't have a bank account."

"Check? Ah, Rox... you should know by now that Xemnas isn't stupid enough to pay with checks. That'd be entirely traceable! That's cold hard cash in you hands, kiddo." Axel nudged me and wrapped an arm around me but at least he didn't stink today. "Open it and let's see how much you got."

I looked down at the envelope and pulled it open slowly. I was shocked to see two one hundred dollar bills peeking at me from behind a mix of twenties, tens and fives. There were even some singles and some change. Saïx, that meticulous son of a bitch had it down to a T, calculating everything perfectly. "Wow, it looks like I got about three hundred!"

"Three hundred... _Minus _the twenty-five you owe me." Axel said with his wide grin and I irritably picked out a twenty and a five to hand into his grubby hands. "Thank you. So... what are you gonna do with the rest?" He paused and his voice got suddenly high pitched and annoying. "You gonna take your cutesy wootsy little girlie-friend Naminé out on a date?"

I flushed bright red and I was torn because I could either punch him for teasing me or I could find out if I was really allowed to take Naminé on a date. I chose the latter because Axel could still probably kick my ass. "Could I really?"

"Aww, how _cute_!" Axel made a kissy face at me and this time I couldn't resist the urge to punch him, but I only did it on the arm. "Oww! Geeze Rox! I'm just giving you a hard time! I think it's sweet, really. Naminé is a doll. I'd wanna date her if I was your age. You should totally take her out... there's just paperwork to fill out."

My face fell at Axel's words. I knew these guys took things way too seriously, but paperwork for a date? Seriously? "What do you mean paperwork?"

"Well you have to tell Xemnas where you plan to go, how much money you plan to spend, just the important stuff. That way he can ensure you are safe from being seen by the police or anyone else who may hinder our operation. We want you to have a life, Rox. It just has to be one that won't get the rest of us in trouble. I know it seems embarrassing to fill out paperwork for a date. Just think of it like asking a parent for permission. A really strict parent..." Axel shrugged and ruffled my hair again, much to my irritation. "Hey, I'll even chaperon you, little brother!"

"I am _not_your little brother." I said as I slapped his hand away. "And I wouldn't want you to chaperon me anyway. You'd embarrass the hell out of me before we could even get to where we're going."

"True, but who else are you gonna get to take you? Vexen's pissed at you, Xaldin hates kids, Xemnas can't be bothered with things like that and Xigbar... well, as bad as I may embarrass you, Xigbar would only be ten times worse." Axel grinned at me and I got a sickening feeling in my stomach that he was all too right. Nobody else here had cars besides him and the four others he mentioned, and of everyone he was the most desirable choice. But that wasn't saying _much_. "Come on, you can't take her on the bus. Let me take you!"

"I'll think about it." I mumbled and Axel looked way too giddy about it. I thumbed through the envelope again and sighed. Of course I can't forget about my dog. "You think if I gave you some cash, you could go pick up some stuff for Goofy?"

"Like what?" Axel blinked down at the dog who was laying quietly in his little cardboard box. It had been three days since I'd brought him home and already his health was improving considerably. He was chunking up a bit and I don't know if maybe Naminé was feeding him too much, but he looked a lot healthier.

"I dunno, some dog stuff. My dad never let me have a pet so I don't really know what animals like." I looked down at the black little lump and smiled. "I dunno. Maybe a ball or a collar or something?"

"Well I think he's till a little too small for something like that but I'll look around while I'm out and about and you can just pay me back." Axel smiled and ruffled my hair again but I didn't mind. "I gotta go get some stuff for my car. I'll see you later. And don't forget to fill out that paperwork!"

"Yeah, yeah." I mumbled as Axel hurried out of my room. I walked over to Goofy's box and picked him up so that we could go lay on my bed together. I hate to admit it, but I was bored when Xion and Axel weren't around. The past couple days had been wild and frantic. Everybody was in and out of my room (without knocking of course) and they had been just ecstatic over the dog. But their interest had died down considerably like Xemnas had said it would. Now only Xion, Axel and Naminé ever came by to check up on Goofy. This meant that I spent a lot of time in my room alone. There hadn't been any retrieval missions for me to go on. There was practically nothing for me to do now but lay around and pet my dog.

Then the door to the bathroom burst open and Demyx's loud voice intruded on my calm. "Hey, Rox! Can I borrow some cash?"

"But we just got paid. How is it that you need to borrow money already?" I looked at Demyx curiously and sat Goofy aside. I then remembered that Demyx is super lazy. He probably hadn't earned any money for this last month. "Exactly how much do you need?"

"I was thinking maybe... a hundred?" My eyes bulged and Demyx must've seen it because he quickly began explaining his situation to me. "Look, I know it's a lot but I didn't earn a thing this month and I made the mistake of borrowing money from Larxene a while ago and she'll totally kill me if I don't pay her back _right now_. Also, I'm all out of Red Vines." He looked to me pleading with his big round eyes. Geeze, he was worse than a puppy. "Please? I'll pay you back as soon as possible."

"A-alright." I reached into the envelope at my side and pulled out a hundred dollar bill. I handed it hesitantly to Demyx who promptly grinned widely, snatched it away and booked it from my room. I had a sickening feeling that I was not going to see that hundred ever again. "Just great, Goofy. Now I've only got a little left and after I buy you some stuff and take Naminé out, I'll be practically broke."

"You're taking Naminé out?" Xion asked as she entered my room without knocking.

"God damn it, would it kill you to knock?" I grumbled. I sat up and faced my sister irritably. "And yeah, I'm taking Naminé out. At least, I hope to. I gotta ask her first and fill out some paperwork. Then hopefully if everything checks out, I can take her to a movie."

Xion made her way over to my bed and sat down beside Goofy, picking him up gently. "Do you even know what's playing?"

No. No I didn't. I'd been here for two and a half weeks but it felt like a lifetime. The outside world seemed so foreign now. "Okay, maybe a movie isn't the best idea. But what else can I really do?"

My sister shrugged and looked at the ceiling as though she was in deep thought. "You could go fishing. They just opened up a fishing pond at Fuji Park last week."

"Fishing? On a date? Are you crazy?" Okay, that was a stupid question. Of course she was. "Come on, give me a suggestion worth something."

"Well _excuse_ _me_, turd face! You know, it's not like there's mounds and mounds of things to do here." My sister grumbled and crossed her arms and I felt a little bit bad because she was actually trying to help. "It's been so hot lately. Why don't you guys go to Tahoe?"

"That's thirty minutes away! I doubt Axel's hunk of junk car can make it that far, let alone all the way back." I flopped back onto my bed and let out a heavy sigh. "The beach does sound nice though. It's really been way too long since the last time we went. But I don't even have a swim suit with me."

"Yeah you do." Xion looked at me in mild irritation. "You were too busy being pissed that I was here that first night to notice that I'd brought a bag of your things. They've been sitting by the front couch for the past couple days."

"Are you serious? You could've told me!" I grumbled and stood slowly. "What about Naminé? Would you let her borrow one of your swim suits? I doubt Larxene would let her borrow one, not that she could even fit into one of Larxene's."

"Oh, and I suppose I'm flat chested enough for her to fit in one of mine? Gee, thanks." Xion flipped me off but she quickly smiled and nodded and I was astounded that we were actually getting along so well. "Yeah, she can borrow one of mine."

"Thanks Xion." I smiled and started out of my room to collect my clothes. "It really means a lot."


	17. Chapter 17: Date From Hell

Bah, so I've been behind on writing this because (and I'm sorry for this) but I've been more interested in writing this original story about a zombie outbreak. If you're interested, I should be posting it up on my dA in the near future (possibly complete with illustrations.)

As for this story, HUZZAH! The date chapter! A lot less anti-climactic than I'm sure you guys were thinking. Plenty of lulz at Roxas' expense here so enjoy that! I promise I'll try to update ASAP!

* * *

"Hey Rox, you got gas money?" Axel said as he peered at me over his sun glasses. "Cause I need some serious gas if we're gonna make it there and back."

"Yeah, yeah." I said as I fished into my wallet and handed the redhead thirty dollars. "That should get us there and back, right?"

"That should do it." He said with a wink before hopping out of the car and leaving me and Naminé in an awkward silence.

We sat staring at the floor board quietly a moment before I cleared my throat and smiled at her. "So, have you ever been to the beach before?"

Naminé shook her head slowly. "No. We never really had time to do much of anything. We were always on the go if we weren't in school. I've driven past the lake, but I've never actually been to it. Is it nice?"

"Yeah, when you aren't camping there." I said in mild irritation as all the wretched memories of camping in a cramped little tent with my sister and dad came flooding back to me. I shrugged off those memories and forced a smile. "Thanks for coming with us, by the way. I'd go crazy if I had to be stuck with Axel all day alone."

Naminé nodded. "It's alright. It isn't like this is a date or anything."

"Exactly." Yeah, so shoot me but I lied to her. I couldn't muster up the courage to ask her on a date so I gave her some bull crap lie about this being a mission and asked her if she wanted to come. How was I supposed to explain why Axel was accompanying us otherwise?

She looked to me with her big bright eyes, suddenly concerned looking. "This isn't going to be dangerous or anything, is it?"

"Oh, no. No, Axel will probably take care of most of it for a couple hours while we just lounge around on the beach." I smiled and motioned to Naminés ensemble. "That's why you had to borrow Xion's swim suit and beach clothes. That way we seem nonchalant. We don't wanna bring any attention to ourselves so it's better for us to just walk around acting like it actually is a date."

"Oh! Like, incognito! I get it." Naminé nodded. "But are you sure Axel is okay with doing all the work? I mean, it won't bother him that we're just laying around on the beach?"

"Nah, the guy loves his job. We'd probably just be in his way." I said quickly as I saw Axel approaching. I hadn't told him that I lied to Naminé so I really didn't want him overhearing our conversation. I didn't want him to know I was too much of a chicken to ask a girl out. "But just in case it's a sore subject with him, let's not talk about it anymore." I watched Naminé nod quickly and then my eyes fell to Axel who began pumping the gas. In a matter of minutes we were pulling out of the gas station and headed toward Tahoe.

The only noise we had was Axel babbling on and on about all kinds of ridiculous stuff he'd read in the news paper and the sound of the wind blowing past the open windows. He had no radio and apparently the air conditioning didn't work either. It felt like a lifetime had passed before we finally arrived at the beach. We stepped out into the cool air and I felt immediate relief. Now we could be free of Axel and just spend some time on the sand in the sun.

"Alright! You kids ready to hit the water?" Axel said way too excitedly and I knew immediately that he was planning on hanging out with us the entire time. I know he isn't the sharpest knife in the kitchen but I didn't think he was stupid enough to believe I'd want him tagging along on the date. I had to think fast.

"_We_ are but I thought you had some serious business to take care of first." I eyed him irritably and after a moment I think it started to sink in. "And weren't you saying something about doing some bird watching after that?"

"Oh, ha! Yeah, totally forgot about that. That's how excited I am to be here." Axel forced a smile but I could tell he was a bit bummed to be given the boot so easily but what did he expect? This was a date, not a tag along party. "I almost forgot this too." He reached into his back pocket slowly and produced what appeared to be some sort of MP3 player or some other type of electronic device. As he handed it to me I realized in complete embarrassment what it was.

A cell phone. A Firefly cell phone for little kids. The kind that only calls Mom, Dad, Grandma and the cops. Was he serious right now? "What is this for?"

"Xemnas wanted to give you a cell phone and since we're on the family plan, we get those for free. They'll call anybody in the family. The button for "dad" calls Xemnas and the button for "mom" calls... well, Saïx strangely enough. Everybody else is in the contact list button. If you need anything you can give me a call." He winked at me and ruffled my hair and he seemed pleased to be handing me this thing but I was so humiliated.

It wasn't like I actually had a cell phone before but in the teenage world, sporting one like this around was social suicide. It was better not to have one at all than to have a gay little toy like this. "Gee, thanks Ax." I mumbled and stuffed the thing in my back pocket hoping to never see it again. "Well, see ya later." I quickly grabbed Naminé by the wrist and pulled her away from the redhead and toward the sand. "Geeze, that guy is such a spaz."

"I think it's sweet. He worries about you. They all do." Naminé said all too happily. "You shouldn't get so irritated. We're lucky, you know? Most of the times when somebody is being used as collateral, they aren't treated to the best conditions. A lot of really bad things can happen in those situations and our parents don't even care. You're lucky to have found a place where the people keeping you not only let you have your free reign over the place, they care about you too."

I didn't want to hear what she was saying, mostly because it was true. But I didn't want to think of it so positively. Damn it, I'm a teenager and I have the right to angst and brood over this before I mature and realize that this was probably the best thing to ever happen to me. Still, I knew I probably shouldn't complain too much because I really did have it pretty good. And I hate to admit it but knowing that the others did care about me in their own bizarre little ways made me feel... bleh... _happy_.

I found us a spot close enough to the water to plop down and I couldn't believe how busy the beach was. Of course, there was a heat wave in mid-September so it was understandable. Plus it was the weekend. I probably should have picked a different day to come because it seemed like everybody in Nevada was here but it was too late now. We laid out our towels and I stripped off my shirt but Naminé seemed a bit more hesitant to take off the clothes my sister let her borrow. "What's wrong? Xion let you borrow her one piece, right? Don't be so shy!"

"Well, it's just that I'm so pale and scrawny. And the swim suit is white." Naminé looked down and blushed brightly. "My skin practically blends in with the swim suit."

"All the more reason to get some sun while you can. It's not going to be warm like this for much longer." I eyeballed her quickly. "Come on, I won't watch. Besides, we're supposed to be incognito. Remember?" I turned my gaze to the lake and heard a loud squeak escape from Naminé. In the next instant my gaze snapped back to her and she was already stripped down. It was humiliating but I couldn't fight the blush coming to my face. She was pale alright, but it was beautiful. She was skinny, not scrawny, and she actually had some curvature to her hips which flowed into a mild hour glass figure. Needless to say, I was at a loss for words. Fifteen year old girls aren't supposed to be this stunning.

"Well don't just stare at me! You said you wouldn't watch!" Naminé said before throwing herself down to her knees on her towel. She tried vainly to cover herself up and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Don't be so shy! You're very pretty." I tried my best to turn my attention back out to the water but I caught myself casting glances at her every so often. I had to think of a way to break this awkward moment. "S-so you want an ice cream or something?"

"Sure!" Naminé smiled brightly, seeming to instantly forget her previous plight at the promise of ice cream. "Vanilla, please!"

I nodded and hurried over to the man selling ice cream cones. The line was long and it took five minutes for me just to get to the front. I didn't like the idea of leaving Naminé alone for that long and for good reason. By the time I got back to her she was being harassed by some tool and his friends. I narrowed my eyes on the douche as I walked up and handed Naminé her ice cream. Where was a gun when you needed one? "Is there a problem?"

Naminé shook her head and stared at the ground but I could tell she was lying. "No. This is Seifer, Fuu and Rai. They go to Pioneer with me." She stood slowly and turned to them. "This is Roxas. My..."

"What, is he your boyfriend? He doesn't look familiar. Where'd you meet him?" The tool I assumed to be Seifer said as he leered down at me. I wanted to punch him and I was pretty sure I _might_ be able to take him if he didn't have that buff ass friend of his standing behind him.

"I'm pretty sure Naminé was about to answer all that before you cut her off." I said as I wrapped my arm around her. "Yeah, I'm her boyfriend and I don't know why it matters to you. You got the hots for my girl?" Yes, humiliating a bully in front of his friends. Quickest way to turn the tables.

"Listen, you little shit..." Seifer said and he grabbed my shoulder. Of course I could turn this around too.

"Oh! You're not jealous of me. You're jealous of Naminé! Sorry, buddy..." I said as I pushed his hand off my shoulder. "I'm not into guys."

He was fuming now and Naminé looked really nervous but I wasn't scared. I dealt with guys like this all the time back when I was in school. They were all talk and I _knew_ he wouldn't do anything. So imagine my surprise when the asshole doubled up his fists and punched me right across my face anyway. I fell back into the sand with my chocolate ice cream cone landing right on my chest. I was irritated, but not that hurt. Remember, I'd taken a baseball bat to the head by a grown man (well, "grown man" is still up for debate as far as Axel is concerned) and managed to walk away from it alright. A punch in the face from some punk ass? Not so bad in comparison.

The douche and his turd friends were laughing hysterically as I stood and pulled the ice cream cone off my chest. I licked a bit of the sticky residue off my hand before grinning and chucking the cone in Seifer's face. I was feeling pretty cocky in that moment but I shouldn't have because no sooner did the cone collide with Seifer's nose, he was on me in an instant pinning me to the ground.

This wasn't exactly how I planned on spending my date with Naminé but girls like it when you fight to defend their honor. Right? There wasn't to be much of a fight, however. I saw a foot pressing against Seifer's forehead that pushed him back. I was expecting to see Axel since I knew he wouldn't be too far from us but it wasn't him. It belonged to a face I hadn't seen in a little over a month.

"Hey, whatdya think you're doing to my friend?" Ah, that jerk. Hayner, one of the few friends I was able to make at Carson High despite my constant lack of attendance. Before I knew what was happening, my other two friends Pence and Olette where helping me up off the ground while Hayner was in Seifer's face telling him off. Way to make me look lame in front of the girl I like.

It didn't take much for Seifer and his gang to realize they were outnumbered before they stormed off with their tails between their legs. I was grateful for at least that much because I knew I couldn't take both Seifer and his friend and I didn't want the girl to try and hurt Naminé.

I dusted myself off and wiped the sticky ice cream off on my towel. "So, that was interesting."

"That's all you got to say to me after I just saved your ass and you haven't seen me in over a month?" Hayner said as he nudged me roughly. "And aren't you gonna introduce us to your girl?"

"Yeah, yeah." I mumbled and turned to my friends. "Guys, this is Naminé. Naminé, this is Hayner, Pence and Olette. They're friends of mine from Carson High."

"Speaking of, school has barely been in session and you haven't been there once!" Olette started in her scolding tone that she always took when I was absent from school. "Just where have you been? Did they finally ship your butt over to Pioneer for your bad attendance?"

"Y-yeah, actually." I said with a wide grin. Why was it that lying was getting easier and easier? "It was only a matter of time. Me and Xion both got placed over there."

"Well that sucks." Pence said quietly. "How are we supposed to hang out anymore?"

"It isn't like we can't come over and hang out, right? Where you living now, Rox?" Hayner turned his gaze to me and I now began to feel panicked. How could I explain to them that I'm living with a bunch of weirdos that think they're a mafia family?

"Well it's complicated. See, I'm living in this home for troubled teens now." Yeesh, _that_ sounded bad. "Not that I'm really troubled, but, you know. My dad thought I was troubled and so he put me in that home and now I'm not allowed to go anywhere or have company."

Olette looked at me and her eyes squinted at me like she knew I was lying. I really hated how smart that girl was. "Well how is it that you're here then? If they don't let you go anywhere then why are you here?"

"Well, we have a chaperon with us but he had to use the bathroom." Okay, that was only a half lie. We had a chaperon alright but I had no idea where he was. If I had to guess though, it wouldn't be the bathroom. "I've got pretty good behavior so when I asked if I could go out to the beach they said alright and sent me with a chaperon."

"Well that stinks." Pence said. "How will we ever see each other again?"

"I don't know. But it isn't that big of a deal. You guys hardly saw much of me anyway." I chuckled but nobody else seemed to think it was that funny.

"On the plus side, you're all here together now." Naminé said with a smile. Great, just great. She was going to ruin our date before we even had a real moment to be alone. How was I supposed to be smooth when I had my friends with me? "We can all hang out together today and maybe you can exchange phone numbers to keep in touch now that Roxas has a cell phone."

And I cringed. Naminé was really, _really _oblivious. I didn't want to have to pull out my phone and show it off to my friends who had their iPhones and their Blackberries. I couldn't even call them if I wanted to unless I had Axel program them into my phone and I was pretty sure he didn't even know the pin number. "Well there aren't really cell phone privileges at the house. They just gave me one in case of emergency for today. But I guess I can get your guy's numbers and call you from a pay phone some time."

"That's alright. We wouldn't want to you to be put out or anything." Hayner retorted sounding suddenly very irritated. "Come on you guys, Roxas is clearly just too busy to be bothered with having to associate with us anymore. He's gonna have every excuse under the sun as to why he can't hang out with us anymore. Let's just go."

"Wait a minute Hayner! That's not..." I started to say but I was cut off by the sound of a wretchedly familiar witch cackle behind me. Hayner and the others where already off toward the water by the time I had the courage to turn around and look. I dared a glance over my shoulder and sure enough, Larxene was standing there. But not just Larxene. _Everyone_ from the "family" was there on the beach behind us, and worse, they were in their swim suits.

"You little kiddies enjoying your date so far?" Larxene asked in a mocking tone as she stepped toward us.

"Date?" Naminé looked to me in confusion before turning her eyes back to the group. "What's everyone doing here? I thought this was a mission."

"Mission my ass! The only mission here is for Roxas to try to get in your pants!" Larxene said snidely. "And he doesn't seem to be doing a good job of it."

Naminé turned her eyes back to me once more and she looked a bit hurt. "You lied about this being a mission? Why?"

Oh great. Okay, maybe honesty really is the best policy from the get go. Of course, I'll never learn that lesson. "Listen, this isn't... I didn't... wait, why are you all here?"

"I was concerned about the situation." Xemnas said calmly but no matter what tone of voice he took, he always had this threatening quality about him. "Sending Axel as a chaperon was not the wisest choice and I can see that considering his lack of presence right now. However, I did have selfish reasons for bringing everyone else along. I thought this would be a great way to grow our family closer together and I wanted to include you in that, of course."

What could I say to that? I couldn't argue with Xemnas, that was just suicide. I had Naminé to the left of me looking very miffed and everyone else in front of me looking way too excited to be here. Xion even had Goofy in her arms and he was wiggling around and wanting down.

Suddenly everything was going downhill fast and I couldn't do a damn thing to stop it.


	18. Chapter 18: The Way it Works

Alrighty guys. Next chapter! HUZZAH! This one is a little gay, but not in the sexy way. In the lame way. Lol, Roxas is having his man period.

I promise, there's going to be an end to this crush arc soon. Very soon! Even I'M getting tired of love sick Roxas. It's annoying. Grow up and let it go already! You're not good enough for her!

Anyhow, enjoy!

* * *

"Did you know this was going to happen?" I asked irritably and furrowed my brow at Axel. "Did you know they were going to come?"

"I had no idea!" Axel protested. "I mean, yeah, Xemnas said something about us taking a family trip to the beach but I didn't think he meant today! If I would've known I would've warned you."

"Ahck! I can't believe this! This is so retarded!" I grabbed my hair and tugged it lightly as I watched the others playing around in the water and sand.

Xion and Naminé were off building a sand castle with Hayner, Pence and Olette. Xigbar and Demyx were stupidly chasing each other up and down the beach squirting water guns back and forth. Xemnas, Saïx, Vexen and Xaldin were all lounging around in the water. Larxene and Marluxia were laying out and catching sun. Lexaeus was walking Goofy along the shore line, Zexion was curled up with his face in a book and Luxord was over at the food stand trying to pick up on girls.

Yes, everybody was enjoying themselves except for me. I sat brooding on my towel watching those date ruining assholes have their fun. I grumbled and crossed my arms. "I can't believe they showed up."

"Yeah, when I saw them walk up I thought I was going to die." Axel said and I froze when I heard this. Seeing them walk up meant he could have warned me. Seeing them walk up meant he was watching from afar.

My gaze flew to him in anger. "You saw them approaching? Why didn't you call my cell to warn me?"

"Well, maybe I didn't think it was that urgent, pissy pants! Maybe I was a little jilted from you giving me the boot from your date earlier, which _by the way_, I heard Naminé didn't even know she was really on a date with you!" Axel retorted with a huff.

"_Jilted_? Do you know how gay you sound right now?" I sat up and stared hard at the redhead. "Did you really think I would want you tagging along like a third wheel on my date?"

"It _wasn't _a date Rox! Naminé had no idea! You lied to her, just like you lied to your friends!" Axel said. Again, I froze. How did he know that?

"How did you know I lied? What, you got me bugged or something?" I stared him down and after a moment he looked away from me in silence. "Oh my god! You fucking stalker! You're sick! That's my private business, thank you very much! Why don't you mind your own?"

"Look, Xemnas is the one that bugged the phone, alright? It's for your protection, Roxas. And when I saw that first guy hassling you I tuned in to hear what was said. Excuse the hell out of me for caring about you!" Axel said grumpily as he looked away from me.

"Well don't! I don't need you to! Besides, whether you care about me or not, some things just aren't your business! You're not my father! You're not my family! You have no right to spy on me like that! You're nothing to me! You're just some creep that thinks he's my friend! Well guess what Axel, you're not!" I growled angrily and stood. I didn't know where I was going, all I knew was that it was away from him.

I stormed my way up the beach until I was a good enough distance away to quit stomping and walk like a regular person. I wanted him to see just how mad I was. Of course, he could have binoculars and see me leisurely strolling now. Not that any of it mattered, I guess. I'd still be going back to the same home as him anyway. My head felt heavy and I was so damn irritated. But worse than that, I felt a bit sad. I'd just had my first fight with the only person I could actually consider my friend in my current situation.

I sat down along the shoreline and stuck my feet in the water. There was nothing I loved more than a moment to brood. I'm not sure how much time passed but before I realized it, the sun was beginning to go down. I knew I'd have to go back and even though I didn't want to, I really did want to. But before I could stand I heard a voice behind me, and damn it all, it couldn't just be a friendly one.

"Well, well, look what we have here. What happened? You and your buddies get into a little tiff and you storm off?" I kept my eyes forward because I didn't need to see who was talking to me. I already knew it was Seifer. I heard him step closer and I knew it was irritating him that I was ignoring him. "Listen, you and I have unfinished business!'

"Yeah! Seifers gonna wipe the floor with you, ya know?" Ah, so the bag of meat speaks. But I still ignored them and continued to stare out at the lake. I so did not need this crap right now.

"Quit ignoring me! You think if you ignore me, I'll just go away? I'm not going anywhere!" Seifer said and I could tell by the huff in his voice that he was getting angrier.

It was at this point I swallowed a pride pill and stood so I could walk away without confrontation, and damn it, that's a hard thing to do. But what else could I do? Even if I could beat Seifer I knew his muscle bound buddy Rai would just be pummeling me into the ground seconds later. I _had _to walk away from this one. But as I began walking away I felt Seifer's hand on my shoulder again. Persistent little asshole.

Oh well, so much for swallowing pride. I turned around with my fist ready and swung at his face, my knuckles colliding beautifully with his jaw. It sent him back maybe about a foot before he lunged at me with his own fists. It hurt a lot worse this time when he punched me in the same spot he had earlier. If it wasn't going to bruise before, it sure was now.

I'd be lying if I said I knew how to fight, of course that only meant I hadn't been properly trained. I'd been in fist fights before and I'd won a few. Okay, maybe I was like seven or eight at the time. But still! A fight is a fight. But I'd never been pinned to the ground before so I had no idea how to fight from the bottom.

Thankfully though, the fight was interrupted again. Seifer was suddenly yanked off of me by a force unknown. Somebody was standing above me with their hand down in my face. "A-axel?"

"Get up. You can't get caught fighting here. If someone calls the police we'll... well, you know." He said and I took his hand hesitantly. I dusted myself off and glared at Seifer who was spitting out a mouthful of sand. Apparently Axel had dropped him face first onto the ground. I had to give it to the redhead, for a scrawny guy he was pretty strong. "Run home to your parents little boy and tell them the reason you act out is because they don't love you enough."

I blinked curiously at Axel. I couldn't believe he was standing up for me after we'd just had a huge fight. Before I knew it he was pushing me along the beach back in the direction we'd come from. He seemed to be really pissed so I had to say something. "Axel..."

"Are you a moron?" He said looking at me from narrowed eyes. Obviously it was a rhetorical question. "If someone had called the cops and they came, not only would they have found you but they could've found the rest of us too! I sure as hell don't want to go to jail. Do you?" Again, a rhetorical question, I think.

Time to swallow that pride again, rather than argue back. "I'm sorry. I guess I just have a bad temper." I looked up at him but he didn't seem to be too mad anymore. "How come you followed me? I said some pretty harsh stuff to you."

"Roxas, I'm always going to care about you and worry about you. And I'm always going to protect you. Even if you don't consider me family, I still think of you that way. Shit kid, this is the only family I've got. I'm going to do whatever it takes to protect it." Axel looked down at me with a smile, but I could tell it wasn't really genuine. It looked sad. "You can storm off and throw your tantrums. But I'll be there waiting for it to all blow over."

I don't know what came over me then. Maybe I just had a moment of absolute gayness, but I stopped and hugged Axel tightly... which was weird by the way. Stupid Axel and all his talk of family and caring. It actually did make me feel close to him. "I'm sorry I said you're not my family or my friend. You're the closest thing to family that I have besides Xion and I shouldn't have said those things to you." I felt Axel's hand ruffling my hair so I pulled away quickly before it could get much gayer. "Just don't tell anybody I said that. Or that I hugged you."

And just when I actually expected Axel to be cool about the situation, no. No, he just couldn't be. He made that horrible kissy face of his and his voice got high pitched. "Aww! Does Roxy not want anybody to know he has a heart?"

I turned abruptly from him and stormed back to where everyone else was in embarrassment. Axel of course followed me the whole way with his taunting voice but I couldn't help but smile inside. I knew he was just acting the way he would have acted if we hadn't got in a fight at all. That meant things were back to normal. Well, as normal as things can get with that weirdo involved.

By the time we reached everyone, the sun was almost completely gone from sight. Naminé didn't seem to be any less mad at me as she piled into Xigbar's Cadillac with Larxene, Xion, Demyx and Goofy. Luxord and Marluxia rode with Lexaeus and Zexion in Xaldin's Dodge. Vexen chose to ride with Saïx and Xemnas in his Porsche (can't blame him) which left me and Axel by our lonesome in his Mustang.

The ride back home actually wasn't as painfully awkward as it had been on the way up there. There was no tention or concern that we were going to offend anybody. It was just me and Axel, who felt completely back up to chastising me.

"I still can't believe you lied to Naminé about today being a mission." He said as he grinned widely. "I thought you'd at least be smooth enough to ask the girl out!"

"Yeah, well I've really only known her for about a week. Besides, there's this guy..." I said with a grumble remembering what Naminé had told me about that Riku guy. "She says he's just a friend of the family but I can tell she really likes him."

"Who cares? She's ours now!" Axel nudged me as he said this but I shook my head.

"Not for long. This guy is her night and shining armor. Apparently he's rescued her from situations like this before. As soon as he catches wind of what happened, he'll be on his way here to repay her parent's debt and take her home. We're not the first people to use her as collateral." I said with crossed arms. "And I've got a feeling we won't be the last."

"Well maybe we can convince her to stay." He offered but I couldn't even agree with that. There was no way Xemnas would take Naminé over the money. And even if he did, what could she really do to benefit us?

"Nah, she's not cut out for this life. Could you imagine trying to take her out on an actual retreival? She couldn't do that. Maybe it's better for her if that guy just comes and whisks her away to Vegas." I said that, but I can't say that I really meant it. Naminé was happy here with us. She was making friends, sorta. She had everything she could ever want... well, except for her brother and a room of her own and a trustworthy guy she could put her faith into. She couldn't go back to school or get a real job. She couldn't do much of anything, really. But she had to at least be mildly happy. Right? "Do you think she'll forgive me for lying to her?"

"I think if you apologize to her face and don't pussy foot around, she will. And the longer you take to say you're sorry, the longer it'll take for her to forgive you. Trust me, women have a steep price when it comes to their forgiveness. The longer you wait, the steeper it gets. Girls are just weird like that." Axel said, not that he knew much about anything. I was pretty sure he was some kind of closet case anyway so what could he possibly know about girls? I had no reason to trust his advice but I'd follow it anyway.

Then again, whenever I fought with Xion, the longer I waited to apologize the faster she seemed to forgive me. Maybe that's just with sisters though.

I had no idea what I was going to do. All I knew was that I had to set things right and the best way to do that was apologize for everything under the sun, even if it wasn't my fault. That's the way girls work.


	19. Chapter 19: The Halloween Episode

Here you guys go... A little treat for your Halloween. This is TOTALLY a filler chapter, just so we're clear on that. And sadly, for a filler I think it's longer than any of the other chapters so far. LOL LAME!

Happy Halloween! Hope you guys enjoy it!

* * *

"What are you doing?" I asked as I stepped down into the basement. The usual faces were hanging around sitting on the ground: Xigbar, Demyx, Zexion, Lexaeus, Larxene, Marluxia, Luxord, Axel, Xion and Naminé. They had it nearly pitch black down there, the only light coming from a few candles around the room.

"Ooh! Hurry!" Demyx demanded as he patted the spot on the floor right next to him. "Xigbar was just about to tell the story about the previous tenants of this place before we all moved in. You're new so you have to hear it!"

"Uhg, alright." I muttered and took a seat beside the weirdo. He was chewing on a redvine though so I figured I'd be moving in a couple of minutes if he started making mouth noises. I looked to Naminé who was on the other side of Axel and Xion... and if you're wondering, it's been a couple weeks and no, I still haven't apologized. She won't talk to me.

I turned my gaze to Xigbar who inhaled deeply with a wide grin. "So you may not know this, but Carson City has quite the bloody history. Back when settlers first came here there were plenty of Washoe Indians in the area. As you can imagine, it wasn't the cleanest hostile take over of their land. Soon after that, there was a gold and silver rush around eighteen-sixty which brought a lot more settlers to the area. More and more buildings started going up and that's when an investor in the area decided he wanted to make a huge inn to accommodate all those who weren't planning to stay. This is that inn. Over the years it became a brothel, a hospital, a nursing home, an insane asylum, and a halfway house. In that time, several people who resided here lost their lives. Some committed suicide, others died of illness. Some were even murdered. But regardless of the cause of death, it was always said that the real reason for the deaths was a curse from the Indians who were murdered by the white settlers. Those Indians were getting their revenge."

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" I shouted. "If any of that were true, do you think Xemnas would really buy this place for us all to live in?"

"Do you think the spirits of the Indians would curse Xemnas? He's part Indian! Besides, he's scarier himself than any curse or spirits. But the legend goes that every year around Halloween, the spirits are awakened from their peaceful sleep to reek havoc on those who still have the courage to reside here."

Naminé looked up at Xigbar with her eyes wide and horrified. "Has anything ever happened to you personally?"

Larxene smiled deviously at Naminé and I scoffed because I knew they were just trying to scare her now. "Of course! We've all seen stuff!"

"Oh yeah?" I said with my eyes narrowed and arms crossed. "Like what?"

"Like this one time..." Demyx started and I rolled my eyes because he was gullible and probably believed any trick they might have played on him. "I was in the bathroom and I had just gotten out of the shower and the mirror was all fogged up. I wiped it with my hand so I could see my reflection and as soon as I did, I saw a woman standing right behind me. I screamed and ran out of the bathroom and then as soon as I went back to look in, there was nobody in there. I was so scared!"

"Yeah, and you slept on my floor for a month!" Axel added, much to the amusement of everyone else but me. I was not amused. For one, we had a Jack and Jill bathroom. Two doors, easily accessible from both bedrooms. And Larxene was such a bitch, I could see her being the one to dress up and scare Demyx at the encouragement of someone like Xigbar or Luxord. Naminé seemed to totally buy this story though.

I needed to ask somebody else. Somebody not dumb enough to be fooled and somebody who wouldn't lie or over exaggerate. That left out Axel, Larxene and Xigbar. Luxord? No. Marluxia? Meh. Aha! "What about you, Zexion? You have anything scary happen to you here?"

Zexion looked to me then, his stare actually intense enough to be frightening. He seemed almost insulted. "I don't believe in the supernatural." I smiled when I heard this. Leave it to Zexion to be totally rational and trustworthy. "However..." He continued. "I can't deny that there have been strange occurrences that I can't just explain. For example, I have heard footsteps in my room when I know I'm alone. I've had books move from one location to another in a matter of seconds. It could be a trick of my mind due to sleep deprivation, but I'm usually pretty certain of where I place my belongings."

Naminé looked to Zexion, practically mortified. "You think it's a ghost?"

"I said I don't believe in those things." Zexion retorted quickly. "All I am saying is that I can't explain these occurrences."

"Well I don't believe any of it!" I said growing more irritated. "I'm not saying Zexion is lying, but come on! Ghosts and curses? The Washoe Indians weren't exactly a hostile tribe! There's no curse on this land or this building or the people who live here! Otherwise, don't you think all of Carson would be cursed? You're just trying to scare everyone because it's getting close to Halloween."

Xigbar leered at me then with a wicked grin. It made me feel all too uncomfortable. "Oh, you think so, do you? Well then I suppose you're not too afraid to spend the night down here in the basement?"

"What?" I asked as I cocked an eyebrow. "I don't want to sleep down in this basement!"

"So you _are _scared!" Xion said pointing her finger at me mockingly. "Well, I'm not scared! In fact, Naminé and I will stay down here tonight! Right Naminé?"

"We'll what?" Naminé shrieked, shrinking back from Xion slowly. "But I don't want..."

"Alright." I said quickly. "I'll stay down here with the girls. And we'll prove that all this talk is nothing more than Xigbar just being an ass."

"Suit yourselves." Axel said as he stood up. "I won't be having any part of that."

"Yeah, count me out too." Demyx added a little too loudly as he too began to make his exit. "There's no way in hell I'm gonna subject myself to that."

I watched everyone slowly stand and exit then, popping off their own remarks as they went. Soon everyone was gone. Everyone except Naminé, Xion and one other. I was actually surprised but I guess I shouldn't be. Really, nothing should surprise me with these people anymore. "How come you're still down here, Zexion?" I asked as I began blowing out the candles to turn the regular light back on.

"There are many reasons, though I suppose I find it interesting. I'm curious to see just what happens. Of course it's far too easy to play a trick on a gullible moron like Demyx. I think you're smarter than that and I can appreciate your skepticism but you can't truly prove that there is nothing extraordinary occurring. There's no accounting for personal experiences I've had. There is no real way to prove or disprove the existence of the supernatural. There are only those who believe and those who don't. Those who believe are more susceptible to "paranormal phenomenon" while those who don't believe are more likely to shrug occurrences off as coincidence or a trick of the mind." Zexion looked between the three of us, obviously taking this a bit too seriously. "This is just an experiment between those who do believe and those who don't. I'm merely here to observe."

"Oh, I see." I replied in mild irritation. "You're using us." That was a lot less surprising.

"So shouldn't we be getting some things ready?" Xion asked as she placed her hands on her hips. I knew she was going to try to take the lead here but I'd let her this time. I wasn't feeling much into putting up the effort. "We need water so we have something to drink if we get thirsty. We should also all make sure to use the bathroom before we do this because I think it'll work best if we're locked in. That way nobody can chicken out, _Roxas_."

I glared at Xion as she said my name, making sure to put extra emphasis on it. She could be such a turd sometimes. "Don't worry, I won't be chickening out. But I don't think it is wise to lock the door seeing as we might need to get out in case of an emergency and I'm not relying on anybody upstairs to remember that we're down here if that happens."

"Don't worry." Zexion interjected. "Back when this was a nursing home, all the doors were equipped with regular door knobs for safety reasons. The doors don't lock so we won't be trapped down here, even if they want to trap us."

"They?" Naminé squeaked out. She'd been so quiet I almost forgot the only reason that I agreed to this in the first place was because of her. "You mean the gho-"

"I mean the others upstairs." Zexion said in annoyance before Naminé could even finish her thought. This seemed to calm her though, even if it was a bit harsh. "And I agree with Xion. We should at least make an effort to remain here all night so we will treat the door as if it is locked. Be sure you have something to keep you entertained and awake."

"Well there are lots of board games." I said pointing to the small shelf in the corner of the basement. I didn't have much else that could keep my interest and I didn't want to be the only one sitting around with nothing to do. You can't play Monopoly by yourself. Plus, if we left the room that meant somebody could sneak in while we were gone to hide so they could scare us. "Let's just pick one of those and get this thing started."

"Ooh! Can we play Pictionary?" Naminé chimed in but she was quickly thwarted as Zexion pulled out Scrabble and sat it on the table instead. Figures the book worm would pick a stupid game like that.

We all sat down around the table where we usually played poker and sat the game out. An hour passed and nothing interesting happened other than Xion beating Zexion at Scrabble which only put him in a bad mood. It would've been funny if only we weren't stuck down there with him. Xion was the next to choose a game and she decided on Clue which didn't go over well with Naminé at all. Murder mysteries scared her. That's when things finally got interesting.

"Look, all I'm saying is that Mrs. White wouldn't have had the time!" Xion said as she slammed her hands down on the table. Typical Xion, dramatizing a board game.

"You're making this much more involved than necessary for a board game. Do you have the proof it wasn't her?" Zexion retorted with a grumpy scowl. I was sure he was going to strangle Xion at any given second. "If not then I suggest you..."

"Shh! Did you hear that?" Naminé said in a high pitched whisper. We all turned to look at her and she was petrified.

"Hear what?" I asked. "I didn't hear any..." But then I froze because I heard it too. I heard what sounded like a woman sobbing. It was faint but I definitely heard it. It was unsettling because it sounded like it was coming from inside the basement. More unsettling was that it didn't sound like Larxene's voice at all. I looked to see if Xion or Zexion heard it and they both seemed to be trying to listen hard. I stood quickly because I wanted to see if I could pinpoint just where the noise was coming from but because I stood up so fast I ended up causing the chair I was sitting in to clatter to the floor in a deafening thud. This caused Naminé to leap from her seat and dive directly into Xion's arms.

Awkward.

I tried to listen for the noise but now it was completely silent. I'm not into ghosts or anything but if you've ever watched those ghost hunting shows the so called experts will tell you that residual hauntings don't tend to interact with the environment. Intelligent hauntings do and it seemed to me that the sudden lack of sobbing noise coincided with the clattering of my chair as if the loud boom scared the ghost off (assuming there really was a ghost.) I wasn't afraid. It was just...

"Strange." Zexion muttered as he stood from his chair. "The noise stopped after you knocked your chair over. There could be a few different explanations for this so we should try to decide which is most probable. First, it could be that Larxene or whoever was causing that sound heard your chair fall. It could have scared them off, or they simply thought they scared you and were hurrying to a spot where they could see you running out. The second possibility that I'm unwilling to admit was that you startled or disrupted a spirit."

"Oh! Don't say that!" Naminé said with a whine. "You said you don't believe in ghosts! If you start believing now then we're really in trouble."

"Whether or not I believe wouldn't change the outcome of tonight." Zexion said through a grumble. He really was just an irritable prick sometimes. No wonder none of the girls liked him. "Let's just resume the game and..." Then it happened again. Another noise only this wasn't sobbing. It was an all out barrage of crap falling to the ground behind me. I whirled around but of course there was nobody there. I have to admit, even I was getting a bit concerned at that point.

"M-maybe we should leave." Naminé said weakly. She pulled away from Xion and started hastily toward the door but my sister caught her by the wrist.

"Oh no you don't!" Xion shouted. "We're treating the door as if it's locked. Remember?"

"Even if it were really locked I'd be doing whatever it takes to get out!" Naminé shrieked in reply. But Xion wasn't going to let her go and that was what we agreed on so I didn't see a point in arguing. If anything, this was my chance to get Naminé to forgive me.

I opened my mouth to offer her comfort but Zexion beat me to it. "Even if it actually happens to be a ghost, it can't harm you. Ghosts are just theoretically masses of energy which manifest in different ways such as light, sound, or full apparitions. They aren't capable of murder and even if they were, the three of us wouldn't just stand by and let you be killed." He paused in thought and I couldn't help but think that he was probably imagining what it would be like to actually stand around and watch a ghost kill Naminé, the sick bastard. Then he continued. "The actual likelihood of a ghost haunting this place is very slim. While it's true there were a few deaths here over the past century and a half, there was nothing I could find that confirmed a murder or any suspicious deaths on the property and I did thorough research. It is said that ghosts only manifest when they have an abrupt or traumatizing death. The only thing I could find even remotely traumatic was that a young woman committed suicide here in the early forties. But that's not really traumatic."

"Suicide? How is that not traumatic?" I asked as I placed my hand on my hips. "Maybe suicide isn't traumatic to you, but for everybody else in the world it seems to be a pretty upsetting. For a person to even consider taking their life, there has to be some serious mental issues there. Did you find out why she killed herself?"

Zexion put his hand to his chin in thought before nodding slowly to himself. "I believe the news paper article said something about her fiancé being killed in the war, but that's not really..."

"That's so sad!" Naminé piped up, seemingly forgetting her fear once again. "Nothing is more tragic than losing the person you love most in the world! To be kept from the one you love is sad enough! To know that it's forever is even more depressing! No wonder she was sobbing like that."

And as if on cue, the sobbing noise started again. I turned my gaze to Zexion in curiosity. "Did the news paper article happen to say anything about the room where she died?"

"Come to think of it, it didn't. All it said was that this was a hospital and she was working as a nurse at the time. I imagine if she were to do it anywhere, it would've been somewhere that wouldn't have upset the patients like the attic or..."

"The basement." I finished for him. "Well, I can explain away Demyx's experience but this is a little difficult. There's no second door for anyone to come in."

"Second door?" Zexion blinked at me quietly a moment before a look of realization dawned on his face. "Oh, no. The bathroom where Demyx saw the woman isn't the same bathroom that you guys share. He used to sleep on the first floor until that incident and he was in the bathroom there. It only has one door. One exit, and nobody saw anybody leave the bathroom at the time since there were others waiting to use it. Also, if you're thinking it was Larxene that was the one to scare Demyx, you have to take into account that this happened six years ago. Larxene was about twelve and could scarcely pass for a grown woman. My thoughts are merely that Demyx's overactive imagination got the best of him. Either that or someone like Axel or Xigbar dressed as a woman to..."

"Ack! Okay, enough! I don't want that visual!" I said as slammed my hands to my eyes but it didn't block out that horrible image of Axel and Xigbar in drag. The sound of the sobbing had gotten quieter but I could still hear it. "We need to find out where that is coming from so we can disprove it. Is there an air vent down here?"

"This house was built before the invention of air conditioning, Roxas." Zexion said staring at me like I was an idiot. For the record, I'm not an idiot. I knew how old the house was but damn it, there are such things as renovations. "The only connection from the basement to the upstairs floors is the dumb-waiter in that corner, but..."

"Dumb-waiter?" I asked, cutting Zexion off for probably the forth or fifth time in the past five minutes. I started over to the corner he was pointing to and looked up. Sure enough, there was a dumb-waiter right next to the washer and dryer. How had I not noticed that before? I stood beneath it and looked up but all I could see was black. I still heard the sobbing and it was faint, but it was definitely coming from the shaft. I was irritated because I knew it was the others upstairs now. I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted up into the shaft. "I know that's you morons up there trying to give us a scare! Give it up! We're not falling for it!"

And as soon as I said that, the lights cut off. I heard Naminé let out a loud squeal and even Xion gasped. Being in pitch black was annoying because I instantly couldn't see a foot in front of me. We had flashlights down here, but I couldn't see to grab them.

As though he'd read my mind however, Zexion clicked on a flashlight and shined it around the room. "Strange. The electricity here is fairly new. That shouldn't have happened unless there was a storm or the fuse box went haywire. I'll go check it."

Xion was instantly the first to protest, of course. "We're not supposed to leave! Remember? We can just light candles."

"I'm not going to have a fire hazard down here with you all being as jumpy as you are. It isn't as though I'm chickening out. I'll be right back." Zexion said as he walked toward the door. Clearly he'd never seen a horror movie because you're most definitely not supposed to say you'll be right back.

I grabbed another flashlight and turned it on while I still had the light from his. Then we watched him open the door that lead to the upstairs. He closed it behind him and I was about to go back to investigating the dumb-waiter shaft when we heard Zexion scream. Calm, cool and always rational Zexion had screamed. I could see Naminé practically jump out of her skin and Xion looked really nervous. I'll admit, I was pretty concerned too. Zexion isn't somebody I could ever picture screaming. What was worse was that is was a gurgling kind of scream. I bolted for the door and glanced back at the girls who were both shaking their heads, obviously wanting it to remain closed.

I pulled it open anyway and shined my light up the stairs. What I saw made me nearly faint. There was a thick red substance pouring down the stairs and pooling at the bottom. "Blood. Oh god... blood!"

"What?" Xion tugged away from Naminés titan grip to join me at the door. She looked out and her face paled as white as mine probably had. "C-close the door Roxas."

She didn't have to tell me again to get me to comply. I shut the door with a slam and pressed my back against it. "Whatever it is, it got Zexion." I'd watched enough horror movies to know how this would play out. Zexion, calm and rational and completely unsuspecting was the first to go. Assuming the others upstairs weren't already dead, they would be soon. Xion would be the next to go based on her pride leaving Naminé and I alone. In the end though, Naminé would be the one to survive. I'd come close but no... the guy rarely survives because he tries to be heroic and save the girl.

At that moment there was a rattling sound coming from the dumb-waiter. I started over to it with the girls behind me and peered up. There came a loud, high pitched scream from inside that echoed down and filled the basement. Then the door to the basement burst open and Zexion stood there covered in blood.

Naminé screamed. Xion screamed. And yes, even I screamed.

Zexion stepped forward and slipped on what I believed to be his own blood and the three of us ran for the door to make our escape. We slipped and slid our way up the stairs until we reached the top where we promptly all fell to the ground, having lost our footing on Zexion's blood. My eyes floated up to see a woman in a nurse's uniform raising a knife high above her head. I screamed again and clenched my eyes shut. How could I miscalculate? Xion was supposed to be next but I knew I'd do whatever it took to protect them both.

Then that horrible witch cackle I loathed so much flooded my ears and I dared a look above me. The nurse, or Larxene rather, was doubled over laughing hysterically. The lights flicked on and I stood slowly in utter fury. "What the hell Larxene!"

"Oh man! Oh, that was priceless!" Larxene managed through gasps for breath. "You should've seen your faces! You were scared shitless!"

I started to help Naminé stand but I saw that Xion and Zexion were already beating me to it so I turned my gaze back on Larxene. "What is the matter with you? We could've been hurt!"

"Sorry kiddo. But that prank was just too easy to ignore." Xigbar said as he rounded the corner. Of course he was involved. "We were kinda hoping to dump the chocolate and corn syrup mixture on _you _but it looks like Zex served well enough."

I turned my gaze to Zexion quickly. As soon as I realized what was going on, I had assumed he was helping them scare us the way he stumbled into the basement. Apparently not. "You mean you weren't in on it?"

"In on it? As though I would willingly let them poor this sticky, slippery mess all over me!" Zexion turned a glare on Xigbar and Larxene who were both still laughing their asses off. "Somebody is going to pay for this!"

"A-and the lights?" Naminé asked hesitantly. "Why would you close us off in the dark like that?"

"Look princess," Xigbar started with a wide grin. "Sometimes some jokes are just too fun. Sometimes you have to prank the undeserving innocent. It's all for a good laugh, no hard feelings. Right?"

"I just have one question." Xion said angrily as she planted her hands on her hips. "How the hell did you get over here so fast? The dumb-waiter is on the completely other side of the house. We just heard the scream a little over a minute ago and it was clearly a woman's scream. You wouldn't have had time to get over here so how did you manage that? A tape recorder or what?"

Larxene's brow furrowed as crossed her arms and looked at the three of us. "What are you talking about?"

"She's talking about the scream and the sobbing we heard from the dumb-waiter! We've been hearing it for a little over twenty minutes now and we _just _heard a scream. Then Zexion came in and we started running. How'd you get over here so fast?" I asked, now growing impatient for my answer.

"We didn't. We've been here the whole time." Xigbar answered. "We were filling up the bucket of blood to pour on you guys again. That was Marluxia and Luxord's job in the second floor bathroom. Everybody else went to sleep and we can't access the dumb-waiter here on the first floor because it's in the original kitchen and the floor in there is starting to rot out. If we tried to walk in there, we would've fallen straight down to the basement."

"So you're saying that you _didn't _make the sobbing noises or scream when we looked up the shaft?" Xion asked skeptically. "Then who the hell did?"

"I told you..." Xigbar said triumphantly. "This place is haunted! A woman once hung herself in that shaft!"

Zexion snorted and rolled his eyes, clearly very annoyed with Xigbar. I couldn't blame him. We'd barely just fallen in the sticky fake blood and it was incredibly uncomfortable. I can't imagine what it must feel like to have it dumped over your head. "All you've told us are a bunch of untruthful stories about murders and suicides. I've looked it all up and not a bit of it is true! I'm going to take a shower, and I suggest that if you want to live you'll let me do so in peace."

I watched Zexion retreat before turning a thoughtful gaze back down at the basement door. I didn't believe in ghosts, but I really couldn't explain the scream or the sobbing. I looked back up at Xigbar as the others started to disperse. "That woman that committed suicide... do you know why?"

"Well I wouldn't know the facts but the rumor is that she had a fiancé who supposedly died in the second world war around Halloween. She was a nurse here back when this was a hospital and she got the news here at work. Devastated, she went to the second floor and tied a rope to a bedpost of an empty hospital bed. Then she slid into the tight fit of the shaft and let herself slide down. They went a whole week without realizing where she was. They had a mechanic come to check out why the dumb-waiter wasn't working and that's when they found her body. They say her neck wasn't broken which means she choked to death. After that, a man claiming to be her fiancé returned here to find her only to discover she'd taken her own life." Xigbar was looking down into the basement now and he seemed deep in thought.

I turned my gaze back to where Xigbar was looking in curiosity. "That's not what Zexion said that the news paper said."

I heard a small chuckle escape Xigbar's lips before I turned back to face him. He replied. "Sometimes there's stuff you can't just learn from a news paper." He walked away then and I was left staring down into opening of the basement. Maybe it was my imagination, or maybe it was really there, but I thought I heard the faint sound of sobbing as I turned to head to my bedroom. I desperately needed a shower and I couldn't shake the one thought that kept popping into my head.

_"If this were a sitcom, it would've been the Halloween episode."_


	20. Chapter 20: And Just Like That

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Wow, a whole year has passed and it's hard to believe where I was on this day last year when I think back on it. I was writing in "Where Eagles Dare" and its strange to see just how much I've written in the past year. CRAZY!

Enjoy this chapter folks! It gave me hell with all forms of writer's block. Especially because I'm trying to keep it sort of in sync with the real world time.

This chapter is a lot less comedic, btw. :D

* * *

I woke up to a horrible commotion above my head. I wasn't sure where it was coming from or what was causing it. After all, there was nothing but attic above me and nobody ever went up there. I groaned and rolled out of bed only for Goofy to tackle me to the floor. It was amazing how in just a little under two months, that dog had tripled in size and for being blind he had excellent aim. After he attacked my face with his tongue, I managed to push him away long enough to stand up and make my way for the door.

I started out of my room and down the hall, anxious to know just what that racket was. There was a ladder hanging mid-hall that was never normally there so I stopped to peer up. Whatever was causing that noise, it was certainly up there. I started up the ladder and poked my head in the opening of the attic floor. Of course, I should've known Axel would be at the center of the racket. I leaned grumpily on the attic floor and stared up at the redhead as he continued to shuffle boxes around. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, Rox!" Axel said all too cheerily for that early in the morning. "You're awake!"

"How could I not be with all this noise going on up here?" I climbed the rest of the way into the attic and stared at Axel curiously. "So what's in all the boxes?"

"Christmas decorations!" Demyx chimed in from somewhere in the attic behind me. I swear that guy was everywhere all at once. "We don't normally celebrate a lot of things but we do like to celebrate and decorate for Christmas so that's what we're getting ready to do."

"You do realize that Halloween was only about a week ago, right? We haven't even had Thanksgiving yet." I turned to glance at Demyx only to spot Xion just behind him. "You too? What's wrong with you people? Does Turkey Day amount to nothing to you people?"

"Thanksgiving is cool and all but Christmas is way more important." Demyx said as he brought a small box over to the gathering of other boxes. "It's Jesus' birthday! How can we not celebrate Jesus' birthday?"

"Okay, don't even get me started on how wrong you are there. Jesus wasn't born anywhere near Christmas time." Seriously, Demyx had just opened a can of worms. If there was _one thing_ I knew a lot about, it was religion and I was willing to inform everybody who was mistaken about the true facts of Christmas. "Christmas is a Winter Solstice celebration stolen by the Christians from..."

"Come on Roxas, do we have to go through this every time somebody mentions why they celebrate Christmas to you?" My sister said, cutting me off. "I mean, does it really matter? It isn't like they're going to stop celebrating just because you told them the cold hard truth about generations and generations of tradition borrowing."

"Tradition _stealing_." I corrected her. "Tradition stealing."

"Whatever. And who's to say it's a bad thing? Maybe hundreds of years from now, people will all finally be able to celebrate the same holiday in the same way and there'll be no more war because everybody will have the same traditions." Xion retorted cocking an eyebrow. "And spare me the speech on how humans aren't going to survive the next hundred years. I've heard that already too."

Damn, she knew where I was going next. Stupid little sister. "Well none of that is any excuse for decorating for Christmas in the first week of November. That's insane!"

"Dude, this is a really big house." Demyx said. "We have indoor and outdoor decorations for practically every inch of common space."

"Seriously..." Axel added with a chuckle. "He's not kidding. Come the end of November, it'll look like Santa Clause threw up all over the place. It takes so long to decorate, we probably won't be finished until just before December. That's why we start this early."

"That still sounds insane. If it's that troublesome, why decorate at all?" But Axel didn't need to answer. As soon as I asked the question, the answer came to me instantly.

"Xemnas wants us to feel close. Like a family. At least, that's what it seems like. I guess decorating for Christmas and celebrating Christmas all together, it brings us closer. I never had a real family to celebrate with but I remember my first year here, I got to be the one to put the star on top of the Christmas tree." Axel paused and got this stupid goofy smile on his face. Why did people always get so sappy over stuff like this? "I remember Xigbar lifted me up on his shoulders cause the tree was so tall and I was too scared to climb the ladder. And when I put the star on top everybody told me I did a good job. It actually made me feel like the world could end that day and it'd be fine because I was just so happy."

"Wow. That's not completely gay. At all." I muttered. Still, I suppose when you're that young and you've never really had a good life, any kind of happy memory sticks with you forever. "So we're all supposed to decorate as a family? How sweet."

"That's right!" Demyx said happily. Yuck. "And if you try to refuse, Xemnas won't let you participate in the festivities afterward!"

"So does this mean there'll be carrot cake and egg nog and ginger bread men all through November?" I asked hopefully. I did love carrot cake _so very much_.

"Hell no! Do you know how fattening that crap is?" Axel shouted. "We reserve the junk food for the last week in December! And it's not gonna be homemade either, not unless you can con somebody into baking all that crap."

Crap? Seriously? I couldn't believe the words I was hearing were coming from Axel's mouth. You know, Axel, the same guy that fed me nothing but fast food my first few weeks? Calling sweets crap... ridiculous! But whatever, store bought treats would be good enough. I never had anything homemade anyhow.

Time to change the subject.

"Well I'll go get a shower and then I'll help you guys with some of this." I said as I started back down the ladder. It was then that I heard the doorbell ring. It caught me off guard like it had last time because it was never, ever used. "I'll get it!" I yelled and hurried my way down the stairs. In hind sight, I probably should've looked out the window first, but I didn't. I pulled open the front door only to find myself staring face to face with the barrel of a Derringer. I won't lie, I almost shit myself.

The wielder of the gun cocked the weapon and there's nothing quite like that sound. Then he spoke. "I'm looking for Naminé. You have thirty seconds to get her here, then I start shooting."

It was at that moment I took a second to look past the barrel in my face and look at the person behind it. He was young, maybe only a year or two older than me. He had this silver hair that reminded me of Xemnas and I knew for sure it couldn't be natural. Lame. He was muscular and not too bad looking, for a guy. I knew in that instant just who he was. "You must be that Riku guy."

He lowered his weapon for a second and narrowed his eyes at me before grabbing me by my collar and forcing me against the wall. "I won't tell you again. I want Naminé."

Now, a normal person with a gun in their face would be all too happy to comply with whatever the wielder asked of them. But not me. No, I'd been around these gun slinging morons long enough to know that the gun was only a threat and the wielder wouldn't shoot until after he got what he was demanding. In this situation I had the upper hand because this guy, who I assumed to be that Riku douche, didn't know a damn thing about his surroundings. He had no idea how many of us would come running if we heard a gun shot, or how many of us he could kill before we took him down. He knew nothing. _And_ if he cared at all about Naminé, which I suspected that he did, the last thing he would want is a Mexican stand off so he wouldn't force me around the house with a gun to my head.

All this meant was that if I played it cool, eventually he'd have no choice but to mellow out. "Look, are you that Riku guy, or aren't you? Because if not, I have no reason to call Naminé in here and put her in danger."

"What do you think you're playing at? Put her in danger? She's in danger of being around scum bags like you. I came here to take her away from you." The douche said.

Really, I could only smile. "Well you won't be taking her away from us unless you have the money her parents owe us. I mean, sure, you could try. You could splatter my brains all over the wall, which would be really loud seeing as you don't have a silencer on your piece. Of course that would bring everyone else running with their own guns. Needless to say, you'd have to put up a hell of a fight to try and take her from us. Or you can show me the cash right now, you lower your gun and I take you to the boss. Of course, I need your name."

He stared hard at me a moment, the wheels in his head obviously turning. After a moment he sighed and relented to lower his gun, but not tuck it away. "My name is Riku. I'm a friend of Naminés and I've come here to pay her parent's debt. I have the money hidden a few miles from here but first I'm going to make sure she's alright. You don't get cash for damaged goods."

I inhaled sharply, ready to retort about the "goods" comment he just made about the girl I liked but I was cut off by the sound of a gasp I knew all too well. I looked to my left to see Naminé standing petrified with a box of what appeared to be Christmas decorations in her arms. Luxord and Marluxia stood behind her, their mouths equally agape and arms equally full.

Naminé dropped the box she was holding and I swear, it seemed to fall to the ground in slow motion. She bolted forward and threw her arms around Riku like she'd never been happier to see a person and that bothered me. "Riku! You came! I knew you would!" I heard her cry into the crook of his neck, and that bothered me even more. Wasn't she happy with us? Weren't we good to her? I watched him wrap his arms tightly around her and that bothered me the most.

"You know I'll always come for you." The Riku douche said against her ear. Unfortunately I was still close enough to hear all this crap.

I cleared my throat to get their attention. There was no way I was gonna let this sap fest continue. "The money is still needed so I suggest you go get it before we change our mind about letting her go."

"Don't mind him." I heard Luxord say almost immediately behind me. That always seemed to be his mantra. _"Oh don't mind him or her! Pish posh and tomfoolery! I'm a limey bastard."_ I mean, not really but you get the idea. He continued to talk. "He's just a bit sore at the thought of losing the lovely lady. We all are. She's been nothing but a joy."

"You do understand though, he's correct." Marluxia added. Ah yes, good old cold and calculating Marluxia. When he wasn't ragging on Saïx he was actually a lot like the man. Evil. "We'll need you to bring the money before we agree to let the child go. I'm sure you understand protocol, seeing how you've done this before."

I watched Riku's eyes narrow on Marluxia and he seemed reluctant to release Naminé but the girl pulled away from him and gave him one of her gorgeous smiles. Lucky bastard.

"I'll be alright." She said to him. "They've been really wonderful to me, not at all like the other times. I'll be fine. Besides, I'll need my time to say my goodbyes."

"Alright. I'll be right back." Riku muttered before rushing out the door.

We stood there, the four of us watching him run out. It seemed like an eternity passed before any of us said a word. Luxord was the first to speak, his usual upbeat attitude barely hiding that he was a little bit sad to see Naminé go. "Well, aren't you the lucky one? I should go tell the others so they have a chance to give you their best wishes before you leave."

"And I should probably tell Xemnas." Marluxia said almost to himself. "He'll want to handle this personally."

And in an instant, the two were gone upstairs with their boxes of Christmas decorations left behind. It was just Naminé and me then and she was staring blankly at the floor. I cleared my throat to get her attention and it didn't work so I took in a deep breath and spoke her name. "Naminé..."

She looked at me then, her eyes swollen like she was holding back tears. Maybe she wasn't as happy as I originally thought she was, but that didn't make me feel better like I thought it might. "Roxas... I'm leaving."

Those were the first words she had spoken to me since that day at the beach, and it hit me as though she had said _"I hate you,"_ and it hurt like hell. I'm not the sentimental type, and I know there are plenty of other fish in the sea and all those other stupid metaphors that are supposed to make you feel better, but I started to get teary eyed. I mean, this isn't a regular life. The faces we see around here are the faces we're used to. These faces are our friends. These faces are our family. They're our whole world and now one of those faces was leaving. We got along fine before she came, true. But now it seemed like life without her wouldn't go on. I was sure I wasn't the only one who would feel that way so I had to at least try and stop it. "Naminé, you don't have to. You can stay."

But I knew she couldn't. She shared a room with Xion and my sister often told me she'd hear Naminé crying at night. I knew she missed her brother. She missed her parents no matter how wretched they were. She missed her friends. She missed Riku. She missed life and who would I be to try and convince her to stay?

"Roxas, you don't understand." She said. She was right, I didn't. I'd started to accept that the outside world didn't really care about me. I accepted that my life, my friends, my family was all here now. For better or worse, this was my life. I accepted that and I wanted her to accept it to. But how could she, when she still had people out there that did care?

"You're right, and I'm sorry. It was wrong for me to ask you to stay. I'm sorry for everything. For lying to you and for..." But I was cut off when she wrapped her arms around me in the tightest hug I'd even been given. I was hesitant to hug her back. I felt like if I did I would crumble into a heaping mass of emotion and I hated showing that I had a heart. But it would be my only chance so I pulled her close and sighed. "If you ever need to come back, you know where we are."

I felt her nod and I felt her tears soak through my shirt. It was the first time I had ever literally had someone crying on my shoulder. I heard a barrage of foot steps approaching, likely the others, so I pulled away.

Axel rounded the corner into the entryway with my sister and Demyx trailing close behind. He looked a bit concerned but he was forcing a smile anyway. "So, word is you're getting out of here."

Naminé turned to look at Axel as she wiped her eyes. Not that they were ever very close, but I knew she'd miss him too. She'd miss all of us. "I told you guys."

"Come on!" Xion said as she planted her hands on her hips trying not to seem too terribly upset herself. "You can't seriously leave me here with all these morons! With you gone, the only other girl to talk to is Larxene and that won't be any fun cause all she does is hang out with Marluxia!"

Naminé shrugged and smiled. "Sorry. Maybe you guys will get another girl soon. One who's better at cooking."

"That reminds me..." I heard Zexion say from behind me. I spun around to face him only to see Xigbar, Larxene and Lexaeus also approaching. "Naminé, do you remember your first official day here? You insisted on making breakfast and you told Xigbar that your greatest dream was to be a chef..."

Naminé nodded slowly and smiled. "I remember. Why?"

"I wanted to say... about that..." Zexion started and he seemed hesitant which was unlike him. He was always short and to the point. Always. Was it possible even he was going to be a bit sad about her leaving? "Naminé, no matter what happens you should never, ever pursue that dream. Ever."

"Way to be uplifting, Zex." Xigbar said with a chuckle as he nudged his way to the front of the group. He leered down at Naminé in that creepy way he always does and smiled at her. "So you're getting out, eh girlie?"

"Yeah..." Naminé said quietly. "I'm really going to miss all of you. You've been wonderful. If I could choose who I'd want to to be kidnapped by in the future, I'd choose you guys everytime."

"Well, we'll see if we can arrange that for next time." Xigbar said as he wrapped an arm around her and ruffled her hair. Unfortunately our happy family moment was interrupted by Riku. Stupid, stupid Riku.

"That won't be happening. There isn't going to be a next time." Riku said as he reentered our home. "Naminé, you won't be returning to your parent's home. From now on you and your brother will be staying with me in Vegas. I'm going to assure that this never happens again." He then turned his attention ever so smugly to Xigbar. "Am I to assume you're the leader?"

"Assume what you want. I'll take the money if you'll give it to me." Xigbar grinned as he said it and inside I was cheering him. He was always giving somebody a hard time. Better for it to be the Riku douche than one of us. "If you're so eager to get out of here, come on. I'll take you to see the boss man. You can pay him and be on your way."

"Go ahead..." Naminé said as Riku looked to her. "I'll be fine."

We watched him as a group as he followed Xigbar hesitantly up the stairs. I was secretly hoping that once he reached the top of the stairs, Xigbar would shoot him and then we'd keep the money and Naminé. But no, despite what it seemed, these weirdos had a code of honor. As long as he didn't try to pull any funny business, he would leave this house unscathed with the girl I liked.

Bastard.

"Well, let's get back to decorating." Demyx suggested. Seriously? Just like that? Naminé was leaving and he wanted to just get back to decorating? What was shocking was that the others seemed willing to do just the same. In a matter of seconds, Naminé and I were alone again.

"So, Las Vegas, huh?" I muttered. I had to try and make some conversation. "You'll like it. There's so much to see and do there. And you brother will love it. It can be dangerous though so make sure you..."

"I'll be fine." She said. Then she leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. I wasn't expecting that, especially considering she hadn't spoken a word to me in weeks, but I suppose that when you know you'll never see a person again everything that is petty is sort of forgotten. "I'm so glad I met you Roxas. I'm so glad I met everyone. I promise, I'll write you guys everyday! I'll come back to visit when I can and I'll..."

"Don't be silly. You'll be so busy with your knew life you won't have time for all that. Just don't forget about us. And take care of yourself, alright?" I forced myself to smile because it was all I could really do. Then I stuffed my hands in my pockets and turned away from her because I knew I couldn't watch her leave. That was probably why the others left and I was going to do the same. "If I ever make it to Vegas, I'll look you up."

"A-alright." She said softly as I started back toward the stairs. As I was making my way up, Riku was making his way down. I didn't glace at him as he brushed past me. I didn't trip him. I didn't make a smart ass remark. I didn't do anything as he walked out the front door with the girl I liked and for once I felt like I may actually regret my actions, or the lack there of, for the rest of my life.


	21. Chapter 21: This is War

Well, my grandfather passed away this past Thursday (Dec. 2nd) and things have been pretty hard around here ever since. But I've realized that I can't just shut myself off and go into safe mode. I have to keep operating no matter how emotionally (and physically) exhausted I am.

I can't stop writing or living just because I'm upset. He wouldn't have wanted that. All this means is that my updates may be slow for a while. Slow, but they won't stop.

So enjoy this chapter which I dedicate to my grandfather. I'll update as soon as I can.

* * *

Tis the season to be jolly, and all that crap. None of us felt very jolly though. We kept ourselves busy with hanging Christmas decorations but by the end of November, all the decorations were hung and we had nothing to occupy our time. The house was unusually quiet and everyone sort of kept to themselves. I normally liked my solitude but with Naminé gone, everything just seemed off.

Everybody seemed off.

The normally rude and obnoxious combo of Xigbar and Larxene was strangely quieter. Luxord wasn't his normally upbeat self. Even the ones who were naturally quiet like Zexion and Lexaeus seemed even more silent. I could tell that Axel and Xion wanted to talk to me about it but I didn't want any part of that. No, all I wanted was to sit in my room and brood and that's just what I did for the first week of December until Demyx burst through my bathroom door (without knocking of course) shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Roxas! What are you doing in bed?" He said in a voice louder than he usually used. "Don't you know what time it is?"

I grumbled lightly and glanced at the clock on the wall in the dim light. "Yeah, it's eight-thirty. Too late at night to be as loud as you're being."

"No! It's time to go pick out a Christmas tree! Come on! Get up!" Demyx said as he urged me out of bed by tugging on my arm. "Get your snow clothes on! Hurry!"

"Snow clothes?" I asked a bit baffled. "It's snowing outside?" Really, it was a stupid question. It didn't even feel cold enough by my window to be snowing outside and besides that, Carson City rarely gets snow so for it to snow this early into December, the second ice age would have to be here in full force.

"No stupid! We're going up to Tahoe to pick out a tree! We do it every year. It's a family tradition and Xemnas said you have to go so come on!" Demyx said, tugging my arm even harder. "If you don't have any snow clothes, you can borrow some of mine."

I rolled out of bed and stumbled over to the pile of clothes laying on the floor. I had no idea what was clean and what was dirty but cut me some slack, I'm a teenager. I picked up my pair of thermals and began pulling them up my legs as I turned to look at Demyx. "The only thing I don't have are gloves and a hat. Can I borrow some?"

"Sure! I'll get them and meet you in the hallway!" The mullet haired freak yelled as he burst back through the bathroom door. He really was too excited about everything _all the time_.

I turned my attention back to dressing myself warmly. I pulled a pair of jeans over the thermals and then found a long sleeve shirt to wear over the t-shirt I was already wearing. I then pulled on a thin coat and then a thicker one. I found two pairs of socks, one of which I was sure was dirty, and quickly put them on my feet. Then it was only a matter of fitting my double socked feet into my shoes. Once I was fully dressed I made my way out into the hall and I was surprised to see everyone standing there in full snow attire, seemingly waiting on me. I spotted Axel chatting with Xion and made my way over. "Hey..."

"Hey! Are you ready to go pick out a Christmas tree?" The redhead asked jovially.

"Yeah. I just have some questions. Why are we going this late at night to pick a tree? And why are we going all the way to Tahoe? There are plenty of Christmas tree places around Carson. Why not just save some time and gas by going to one of those?" I asked. Really, I wanted to know because the whole idea sounded retarded, tradition or not.

"Oh Roxas, don't you know?" Axel replied. "None of those places sell Christmas trees big enough for this house! We're going to Tahoe to find the perfect tree and then cut it down ourselves!"

"So we're going to illegally cut down a Christmas tree and then load it up and bring it back here?" For some reason I was surprised. I shouldn't be, not with these people, but I was. "Oh, and let me guess. We all have to go because Xemnas wants us to experience family togetherness."

"Well or course he does! But that's not the reason we all go." Axel said with a grin. "We go for the thrill."

"_And _the snowball fight." Xigbar added as he approached our little group.

"Snowball fight?" I asked, my interest suddenly piqued. "What kind of snowball fight?"

"The _only _kind of snowball fight! To the death!" Xigbar said triumphantly.

Of course at this point Zexion had to interject some rationality into the conversation. "Don't be moronic." He turned his gaze to me, ready to explain. "Every year we divide up into teams of three and have a massive snowball fight, although you could compare it more to guerrilla warfare. If you get hit in the arm, you lose an arm. If you get hit in the leg, the same rule applies. If you get hit in the head, face, chest or back you are considered dead. A hit in the stomach is not instantly fatal, so you have fifteen seconds to counter attack before you are considered dead. Once you're dead you are taken out of the game and you can not continue. The last team standing, even if it is just one member, is the winning team and they get to be the ones to cut down the tree. You're allowed to use snowball propelling weapons as long as they are handmade. Also, we have two extra players this year which means someone is going to have to alt."

"Alt?" I asked stupidly. Of course, I had the market cornered on stupid questions.

Zexion looked to me like I was an absolute idiot before he took in a deep breath and decided to explain further. "An alternate. A person with whom you will alternate game play, like a tag team partner. The rules are that whatever occurs to your alt must also apply to you. If your alt loses an arm then when you go back into the game, you have also lost an arm. If you or your alt dies, you are both taken out of the game. You also have to tag your alt in. You can't just say you wish to switch. It's all very simple."

"Yeah, you can alt for Demyx!" Axel said with a chuckle. "He's terrible! He needs all the help he can get."

"Alright." I said with a nod. "So if I'm alting for Demyx, who's team does that put me on?"

"Me and the fire crotch here." Xigbar grinned and wrapped his arm around Axel's shoulders. "If you're worried you won't get play time, don't be. Demyx is terrible so we'll probably play him just a little bit and keep you in for the majority of it. With you on the team we might actually win this year!"

"I wouldn't say that." Zexion said as he smirked. "It simply means you'll actually stand a chance this year. As for Xion, we call her to alt for Vexen."

"That's not fair!" Axel screeched. It was weird because I thought the only people in this house that screeched were Demyx and Larxene. Apparently I was wrong. "You guys have Vexen, the Snowball King! What the hell do you need an alt for?"

"For your information, Vexen is feeling a bit ill and might not be able to participate for the whole fight. Besides, it's better than her going to team Delta. You remember how badly they kicked your ass last year, don't you?" Zexion retorted. It was strange, but there seemed to be a sort of fire in his eyes. There seemed to be a fire in everyone's eyes. I knew then that, much like everything else they did, they took this way too seriously.

Obviously they were excited about this snowball fight and honestly, so was I.

The excitement only grew as Demyx burst out his bedroom door and shoved his gloves and hat into my hands. "Here you go Rox!" He then bolted down the stairs and everyone was eager to follow. "Come on guys! Let's go!"

And go we did. We piled into several cars and made our way up to Tahoe. It was freezing as we trudged away from the road and headed deep into a cluster of trees where we found a large open area. I was irritated because Demyx had given me two different gloves, one of which was a mitten, and a hat that was almost too small for my head. Needless to say, I wasn't as warm as I could have been. We then grouped up into our teams and stood for Xaldin to talk to us.

"You're all aware of the rules of the game, but let's have a quick recap." The behemoth bellowed over the chatter of the crowd. "We have two alts this year. Xion will be alting for Vexen on team Beta. Roxas will be alting for Demyx on team Gamma. If you're caught alting for anybody else, you're out of the game! I want a good, clean match this year! I want no injuries, accidental or otherwise. Is that understood, _team Delta_?" Xaldin said, his eyes burning in Marluxia's direction.

I turned my gaze up to Axel curiously. "Why is Xaldin singling Marluxia's group out like that?"

Axel shook his head in disgust as he replied to me. "Every year, team Delta comes after us and every year they are merciless. Last year, Marluxia and Luxord both threw a snowball at the same time and pegged Demyx on opposite sides of his face. It knocked the kid down and he was out of the game but that wasn't enough. Then Larxene came up and pelted him in the nuts with four snowballs. It was overkill of the worst kind. He couldn't even walk back to the cars. He had to be carried. It was awful."

"Yeah! But not this year!" Demyx chimed in cheerfully as he patted his crotch. "I brought extra padding. Speaking of which, I think I have one of the matching gloves in here. You want me to look for it Rox?"

"No thanks." I said quickly, very disgusted. "You keep it, you need it more." I then turned my attention back to Xaldin who was still talking.

"First timers, I suggest you stay with your team until you get more familiar with these woods. When I blow this whistle, you will have five minutes to find your starting spot. On your marks. Get set!" Xaldin raised the metal whistle to his lips and blew. The shrill sound of the whistle echoed and we were off.

Axel grabbed me by my wrist and yanked me along. We ran fast and hard into the forest with Xigbar beside us and Demyx struggling to keep up. Then we ducked behind a small group of trees and I was able to catch my breath which hurt thanks to the ice cold air. "Wh-what are we doing? Why did we stop?"

"Every year those bastards come after us and every year we lead them right to us. But not this year! This year we double back and sneak up on them. Then we take them out." Axel said. "Every year I dream of cutting down the tree and it never happens. This year though, this year we destroy them all!"

"But even if we manage to beat Marluxia's team, we still have to beat Vexen and Xemnas' teams, right?" I said as we started walking back in the direction we came from.

"Not necessarily. See, Alpha and Beta are enemies like Gamma and Delta. They usually go after each other and it usually ends up being one of them that wins. Everyone on Beta is really smart. Vexen even invented weapons that they're probably setting up right now. Alpha is just brute force with Saïx and Xaldin and Xemnas is the brains behind them. They're almost impossible to beat because only a handful of people are willing to pelt Xemnas with a snowball. That's why we have to keep Xigbar in play no matter what."

"Understood. So when we..." And then I froze because I heard the oh so familiar sound of Larxene's witch cackle. We crouched down and stared ahead. Sure enough, Larxene was approaching with Luxord and Marluxia in toe. I scooped up a big handful of snow and raised my hand high above my head but before I could let it fly, someone caught my wrist.

"Not yet." Xigbar whispered. "We have to wait for the second whistle, otherwise we'll be..." Then the beautiful sound of the second whistle blew and the look in Xigbar and Axel's eyes changed. They scooped their own handfuls of snow and began packing them tightly, obviously meaning for them to hurt.

I watched the two of them rush forward and let their snowballs fly. Xigbar pegged Luxord directly in the face, a perfect hit and just like that, the Brit was out. I was surprised at how good of an aim Xigbar had for a person with no depth perception. Axel's snowball was regretfully dodged just in time by Marluxia. I was actually impressed with the pink haired man's agility especially because he was able to turn around and fire right back, though he thankfully missed.

I knew I had to fire my own shot so I chucked my snowball at Larxene, only for it to fall incredibly short at her feet.

She looked to me with a wicked smile on her face and her eyes ablaze. "Wrong move, you little shit."

"Don't you hurt him Larxene!" I heard Axel yell.

I felt panicked because I didn't want to be taken out of the game this early. I also didn't want Larxene to peg me in the nuts with four snowballs. I retreated backward slowly and ended up tripping and falling into the snow. I saw the woman raising her snowball high and I cringed because I knew I was done for.

I heard Axel's voice again, yelling, "Noooooooooo!" and I watched as he dove in front of me just in enough time to block the shot. It hit him right in the gut and I blinked in disbelief. I couldn't believe he took a shot for me. He then threw a snowball up and at the angle he was in, I was sure he was going to miss but he didn't. His snowball slammed Larxene in the face and the wretched woman fell backward onto her ass.

I crawled over to Axel who was laying flat on his back staring up at the sky. "Axel, why? Why did you take that shot for me?"

"I... I couldn't l-let Larxene hurt you like she did to Demyx. It wasn't fair. It's your first year so it needs to be a good one." Axel reached out and gripped my mittened hand tightly. "I know you and Xigbar can do this. You can win this war for me. We can cut down that Christmas tree this year I know it. H-here..." The redhead reached up and pulled the scarf from around his neck. He draped it over the back of my neck and wrapped it around slowly. "Take this scarf. It'll keep you warm."

"Thanks Axel. You're really, really gay, but thanks." I stood slowly and looked to Xigbar who was standing over Marluxia with a sinister look on his face. "Xigbar, we lost Axel!"

"I know." Xigbar turned to look at me before looking off in the distance. "We have to keep going. We have to win this year."

"Right." I nodded quickly and jogged over to him with Demyx following after us. We walked in silence, Xigbar stalking around like a hunter looking for prey. It didn't take long for us to stumble upon another bloodbath. Vexen's team, or what was left of it, was standing with their backs against what appeared to be a fort. Lexaeus lay sprawled out on the ground and not too far from him, Xaldin sat against a tree. Zexion and my sister stood with what looked like man made crossbows loaded with snowballs. They were on heavy guard so I knew we had to be as silent as possible.

Xigbar however seemed to think the opposite. He picked up a snowball and chucked at a tree a few feet away from us. Doing so caused Xion to fire off her snowball at the noise, giving her the need to reload. "Stay here." Xigbar said as he scooped up a handful of snow and rushed into the clearing.

I watched as he chucked a snowball at Xion and my sister dodged. Unfortunately this gave Zexion time to fire his snowball at Xigbar. He hit the old man in his right arm, just shy of hitting his chest. Xigbar was quick to recover though, scooping up snow with his left hand and pelting Zexion in the stomach.

Zexion knelt down, mortally wounded. I was sure Xigbar had won this battle, but with his last fifteen seconds of counter attack, Zexion used a knife to cut a rope that was secured to the ground from their fort. It sent about ten tiny catapults flying up, throwing ten perfectly crafted snowballs all at Xigbar. They rained down upon him in an amazing display of advanced weaponry and I had to commend team Beta. They were really good.

Xigbar fell to the ground and soon it was just me and my sister left standing. Well, Demyx was standing too but he was useless so he didn't count. I had to think strategically. What was the best way to approach this, especially with Xion on edge?

"Make a bunch of snowballs." Demyx said quietly. "That way you have plenty of ammunition to throw while she has to reload."

"Good idea." I whispered back. I quickly set to making five decent sized snowballs. Any more and there would be too much to carry. Any less and I might run out. I scooped up four in my left arm and started forward with the last one in my right hand. Xion spotted me instantly and fired off her freshly loaded crossbow. Good thing she was such a bad aim. Unfortunately, so was I. I threw my snowball at my sister and missed, epically. I grabbed another and missed again and I realized I just didn't have enough upper body strength to throw the snowballs as far as I needed to so I had to get closer.

Xion was furious and clearly having too much difficulty with her crossbow to use it effectively. She threw the piece of weaponry to the ground and growled at me. "I'm taking you down, jerk! And I don't need this fancy equipment to do it either!"

"Bring it, brat face!" I shouted, arming myself with another snowball. I was within range this time and I let the snowball fly. This time I managed to hit my sister on the leg which meant she had to hop around on her good leg, leaving her unbalanced. I could then get closer so I grabbed another snowball and ran forward. I couldn't miss this time. We were only five feet away from each other so I chucked the snowball and pegged my sister in the chest.

She fell down dramatically, clutching her right boob and whimpering. "Ah! You hurt my boob, asshole!"

"Whatever! You don't even have boobs yet!" I turned away from my sister and started over to Xigbar because I had no idea where to go or what to do from here. "Xigbar! Where were you hit?"

"I lost both my arms and both my legs. I can't walk, I can't crawl and I know you can't carry me. You have to kill me." Xigbar motioned behind me with a low grunt. "Team Alpha should be that way. You'll have to beat Saïx to get to Xemnas. You can beat Xemnas, can't you?"

"I can try my hardest, but Xigbar, I need your help getting there. I don't know these woods." I looked over to Demyx who still stood in the distance and my brain sparked an idea. As much as I hated to admit it, the mullet head was probably stronger than me and he might be able to carry Xigbar's scrawny ass. "Demyx! I'm tagging you in!"

"Really?" Demyx said excitedly as he rushed over. "What do you want me to do?"

"You're gonna carry Xigbar until he leads us to where we need to be." I reached out and tagged Demyx's hand. "After that you're gonna tag me back in."

"Oh. That's all?" Demyx looked down at me and he seemed disappointed but he didn't waste time arguing. He just knelt down and hoisted Xigbar up over his shoulders. Xigbar directed us through the trees to the spot that Xemnas normally picked as his standing ground and just like Xigbar said, Saïx was there guarding like a watch dog.

"What do I do now?" I whispered as Demyx sat Xigbar against a tree. "I can't just rush in there. He'll destroy me."

"You should have grabbed a crossbow when you had the chance. It would have improved your aim and your range ten fold. But it's too late to go back. It's now or never and you've only got one shot at this. Saïx is relentless and if you piss him off, he only gets more brutal." Xigbar grinned widely. "I've got faith in you, kid. They're our last obstacle and I know you can nail this. Do it for Axel."

"You guys take this crap way too seriously. But alright, I can do this." I pulled Axel's scarf tighter around my neck and readjusted my hat and gloves. I knelt to the ground and made five snowballs so that I would have ample ammunition. After tagging myself back in, I stepped into the small opening and stared Saïx down. There was no way to handle this other than head on and let Saïx think he had the advantage. "Did your precious leader fall? Are you the last?"

Saïx gave a cocky smile and stared me down hard. "Don't be foolish, Roxas. Nobody can defeat Xemnas. They'd have to get through me and nobody gets through me. I'm afraid this is the end of the line." I watched warily as Saïx reached to his side into what appeared to be a snowball holster and pulled out a perfectly round, perfectly packed snowball. He threw the ball with amazing speed and I barely managed to dodge it.

My dodge sent me tumbling to the ground and caused me to crush all my ammunition. Before I knew what was happening, Saïx was throwing snowball after snowball at me and I barely managed to roll away. I regained my footing just in time for a snowball to wiz right by my face. I knew I was at a severe disadvantage. Not only was Saïx bigger, stronger and faster than me but he had been able to relax calmly most of the night while I had fought my way to him and exhausted almost every last ounce of energy I had. That was when an idea hit me. I would throw something at him that he would never expect. It wasn't as though we had anything to lose at that point anyway. "Demyx!"

And like a faithful dog, Demyx came running into the clearing. I ran toward him and it seemed like Saïx knew exactly what I was up to because he started to charge at me. I dared a glance over my shoulder just to see how close he was and he was practically right on top of me but he was out of snow. Demyx however had a ready handful, god bless the guy. I jumped forward and reached out my hand, slapping his in time for him to chuck the snowball and peg Saïx in the side of the head.

Unfortunately for me, I twisted my ankle as I landed leaving me seething on the ground in pain. Demyx however was jumping for joy and cheering.

"I took him out! Did you see that, Roxas? I took him out!" Demyx laughed loudly and continued his ridiculous jumping.

Meanwhile, I lay on the ground in pain. "Demyx, listen to me! This isn't over yet. You still have to face Xemnas!"

Demyx's face fell in that instant and his eyes bulged as he looked to me. "What? But... no! I'll just tag you back in."

"I just twisted my ankle, you moron! You have to do this!" Okay, wow. My turn to give the gay ass pep talk. "Listen to me. Axel and Xigbar are counting on you to do this! Axel has wanted this for years, you can't tell me you haven't wanted it too. Damn it, this is your year Demyx! Just think about all the past years. All the humiliation. All the crap talking! All the snowballs that got thrown at your nuts!" _That_comment got him. A look of determination crossed his face and I saw him clench his fists. "Damn it Demyx, this is your chance to prove you're not just some push over! You _are_ the Snowball King and you're going to kick some serious ass!"

"I'm the Snowball King?" A small smile made it's way to mullet head's face and he stood tall and proud. "I'm the Snowball King!"

"That's quite the declaration you're making." A voice came sneaking out from the darkness. It was Xemnas and he looked incredibly evil at that moment with the light of the moon shining down on him. "You managed to dispose of Saïx? I'd be impressed if I hadn't watched the whole fiasco occur from a few feet away."

"If you were so close then why not just attack? Why toy with Demyx?" I asked defensively. Our leader or not, I still didn't like the guy. He was just downright creepy, like Xigbar, only more evil.

"I could ask you the same thing Roxas. You could have tried to sneak up on Saïx. You may have even been successful in doing so. However you chose to approach him head on and give him a fair chance. Why is that?" Xemnas' eyes narrowed on me and his smile grew wider. "The answer is easy. Because it is simply more interesting and fun that way. Now if you'll excuse me, Demyx and I have some unfinished business."

"Kick his ass Demyx!" I shouted. "No mercy!"

"I can't! He'll kill me!" Demyx whined in response but knelt to pick up a handful of snow regardless.

I wish that I could tell you that the fight that ensued was epic; that Xemnas and Demyx fought for hours on end, wounding each other and evading major catastrophes until Demyx came from behind to win the battle in a glorious display of strength and perseverance. That, however, would be a lie. In truth, the whole thing lasted about two minutes and Xemnas was not nearly as good as I imagined him to be. Sadly, Demyx was no better. They stood at a distance feebly throwing snowballs and missing each time.

I was about to call Demyx over and have him tag me back in when our leader managed to peg him in the gut. Demyx was stunned but he took his last fifteen seconds to grab up a snowball and throw it in Xemnas' face.

Xemnas blew a whistle and just like that, the game was over. It took everyone about five minutes to reach where we were and by that time, my ankle had swollen to the size of a grapefruit.

We almost lost on a technicality, because Xemnas' fatal blow had landed before Demyx's. We won however, based on the fact that Xigbar was still alive. He had no arms or legs, but he was alive and that was all that mattered. Axel seemed all too happy that he was finally going to be able to cut down his precious Christmas tree. Demyx and Xigbar seemed happy too.

I wasn't happy though. All I wanted to do was go back home and rest my ankle which hurt like a son of a bitch.

"Hey Rox, you gonna help us cut down the tree?" Axel asked hopefully.

"Are you kidding? I can't even stand! I twisted my ankle." I pulled my pant leg up to show Axel and his face fell.

"Well I can't leave you out." Axel said as he took a seat beside me on the fallen tree where I was perched. "This was your victory just as much as it was ours. If you can't help, then I won't either."

"Get the fuck off my log!" I said and I shoved Axel onto the ground. He stared up at me in seeming confusion but I was only angry. "Are you an idiot? I fought so damn hard and I twisted my ankle just trying to win this stupid snowball fight for you so you could cut down your dumb tree! Now you say you're going to sit out? Get lost!"

A smile bubbled onto the redhead's face then and I knew I'd regret my words. "You won it so I could cut down my tree? Aw, Rox... That's so..."

"Stop it." I said quickly. I didn't want this moment to get any gayer than it already was. Axel seemed to have other plans however. He lurched forward and wrapped his arms around me tightly. "Stop it."

"Roxas, you're the best friend I've ever had! Thank you so much!" Axel said as he pulled me even tighter against his chest. Talk about humiliating.

"Stop it." I grumbled, struggling against his hold to no avail. "Look, I did it every bit for myself as I did for you. I couldn't be on a team full of losers so we had to win. Get over it." Finally after a few more torturous seconds of being hugged, Axel let me go and smiled down at me and I couldn't help but smile back. "And here, take your stupid scarf back."

"Nah, you hold onto it for now. It'll keep you warm. I'll be right back after we cut down our tree and then I'll piggy back you back to the cars, alright?" Axel grinned and ruffled my hair through the hat on my head before bolting off after Xigbar and Demyx.

Just when I thought I might actually get a moment to relax, my sister plopped down beside me and started talking. "You and Axel are pretty close, huh?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I mumbled. "The guy is a nut."

"Yeah well, so are you but he seems to like you just fine." I could see out of my peripheral vision that Xion was staring me down but I refused to look her way so she kept on talking. "Come on Roxas, admit it. You're starting to like hanging out with these guys more and more. It's fun! You can't pretend you didn't have fun tonight. Being here with all of them and being a part of their tradition, it's special. I actually feel like I belong to a family for once. A real family. I hope that it never changes. I hope things can stay this way forever."

So did I.

Of course, I'd never admit that out loud. Instead I just sat there staring up at the stars with Xion until everyone returned with the massive Christmas tree and we were ready to head back. As promised, Axel piggy backed me all the way back to the cars. On the ride home I couldn't help but think about what Xion had said and how no matter how much we wished it not to be, change was inevitable. I thought long and hard about it until the sound of the engine in Axel's Mustang lulled me into a peaceful sleep.


	22. Chapter 22: XMas

Merry Christmas, everyone.

* * *

It was Christmas Eve day and the house was all abuzz. I hadn't expected for these weirdos to be as obsessively into Christmas as they were, and it was really insane. We had more sweets around the house than I knew what to do with and Zexion had even broken down and made _real_ gingerbread men. Everybody else was just as excited and that was even more strange. I wasn't used to these people being cheery, ever. But they were.

I woke to the sound of Demyx blasting rock and roll covers of popular Christmas songs in our bathroom, and oh yes, he was definitely singing along. Goofy sat in the corner all curled up asleep and I was almost sure at this point that not only was he blind, but deaf as well. How he could sleep through that racket was beyond me.

I grumpily rolled out of bed and made my way to the hall where the sounds and smells of Christmas were in full affect. That was when I noticed for the first time that downstairs, the tree had been flooded with presents.

Those were definitely not there before. Also new were the stockings that hung from the railing along the stairs and up to where I was standing. There was one for everyone, including me. I ran as quick as I could down stairs to find out just what was going on. Nobody had said anything about presents. I stared at the Christmas tree in awe. The presents were separated into stacks by person and I saw with panic that I had my own stack. I had my own stack and yet I hadn't bought a single present for anyone else.

It was at that moment that a wall of presents came morphing in out of my peripheral vision. I jumped in shock which was silly, but I quickly calmed down. "Do you need some help?"

"Oh! Roxas!" Axel's voice came from around the present wall. "Yeah, can you help me put these presents in the right stack?" I watched him set down the gifts and I noticed with amazement that starting from the floor, they came up to his diaphragm. How he'd managed to make his way down the stairs with all those boxes without dropping them was a mystery. He began handing boxes in my direction eagerly. "This one is Marluxia's and this one is Xigbar's."

I took the two boxes into my arms and turned back to face the tree. I found each respective stack and placed the presents where they belonged. I turned back around to see that Axel had already moved most of his presents to their rightful places. "Wow, that was fast. Here, let me help with the last two."

"No!" He shouted and jumped in front of me. "You can't pick those up!"

I cocked an eyebrow and looked at him in confusion. "Why not?"

"That's yours and Xion's and I don't want you to know what I got you guys!" Axel looked from me to the presents and back again. "It won't kill you to wait until tomorrow."

"You... got me a present?" I looked to the two massive boxes sitting behind Axel and my heart fell. He had bought me a present and I had nothing to give him.

"Of course I did! Everyone bought you a present. You're a part of this family now so why wouldn't you get presents like the rest of us?" His grin was wide but it only served to make me feel more depressed.

"Axel, I don't have anything to give you in return. I didn't know we were exchanging gifts so I didn't get you anything. I didn't buy anything for anybody. I'm sorry." I looked to my present sadly. I really wanted it, but I couldn't just accept it. That would be wrong and for once, I actually cared. "You should keep what you bought me."

"What? No way! Come on, you can't be all mopey. It isn't what you do or don't get for people. It's the thought that counts." He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled down at me when I didn't respond. "Look, if it means that much to you, I'll take you last minute Christmas shopping."

"You will?" I looked up at Axel in astonishment. I'd never been Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve but I'd heard it was a nightmarish hell from which there is no escape. The fact that Axel was offering to take me either meant that he didn't care or that he had no idea what he was in for. "Can we go to the Valley Plaza? That's the only place I can think of that has everything."

He nodded as he began placing the last two presents in their respective piles. "Sure. Grab your coat and some cash and let's go."

"Alright!" I rushed up the stairs and into my room, throwing on some clothes that looked clean enough. I rummaged through my dresser, one of the few pieces of furniture I actually had in my room, where I had stashed all my money. I had about four hundred dollars saved up and I was planning on buying myself a big t.v. or something really nice for my room but that would have to wait now. I grabbed my coat and stuck the money in my pants pocket and then ran back down the stairs. I passed Xion on my way down and remembered I needed somebody to take Goofy for a walk. "Hey, walk Goofy for me today."

"And where do you think you're going?" She said in her not so adorable bratty voice but I ignored her. I had more important things to do.

I landed at the bottom of the stairs and ran outside into the nice cold 27° air where Axel was waiting in his Mustang. It took me no time to get into the passenger seat and then we were off. The weather was cloudy but dry which was a big difference from the snow and rain which had hit us hard in the middle of December and refused to let up. Of course it stopped, now eliminating any chance of a possibly white Christmas.

In about ten minutes we were at Carson Valley Plaza and no surprise, there was nowhere to park. It made me feel less idiotic because even though I hadn't done any Christmas shopping, it wasn't as though I was intentionally ignoring it like the rest of these people. We managed to find parking and headed toward the shops, though I had no real idea what to get anyone. "So, where to start?"

"It's best to get the easy ones done and out of the way." Axel said shoving his hands into his pockets. "Demyx for example, that's easy. Everybody gets him one of those big containers of Red Vines. That's all he could ever really want. Then Zexion, a book of any kind is good but I think he prefers non-fiction. Xigbar will want whiskey. Jack Daniel's specifically, and he'll want either Gentleman's Jack or Single Barrel. I'll have to buy that one of course. It's your first year so Xemnas would love a really bad Christmas neck tie from you. In his weird, twisted mind it's like you're accepting his role as your father figure. As for anybody else, I can't really help."

"Well, Larxene is a woman. All women like chocolate, right?" I nodded to myself before Axel could even answer. "And maybe it's a bit of an asshole move but I think I'll get Vexen a bunch of Benadryl. Luxord likes games and I've always wanted to try Mad Gab. Xaldin is a fairly hairy guy. Maybe an electric razor for him?" Axel laughed so I laughed too. "I know Marluxia likes coffee so maybe I should get him some gourmet coffee beans. I really have no idea what to get for Lexaeus. And Saïx... maybe I can get Saïx a pair of pliers so he can finally pull that giant stick out of his ass..." I said with a laugh and turned to look at Axel expecting him to laugh too but he had stopped to stare into the window at Best Buy. I walked back over to him and looked at him curiously. "What's wrong?"

"They're having a huge sell on all electronics. I wonder if the car audio is included..." The look on his face said it all in that moment. Axel had been saving his money to fix up his Mustang. How could I forget? Of course, that would be the perfect gift if only I could get enough time away from him to browse the selection.

"You know, I think this would go a lot faster if we split up. How about I give you some money and you go get some of the gifts while I go get the rest? That way we can get the hell out of here as soon as possible and get back home in time to actually wrap the presents?" I said as I looked up at him, his eyes still glued to the window of the store.

"Huh? Oh, yeah sure. I'll get Xig, Dem, Lux, Xaldin and Vexen." He held his hand out to me and I handed him a hundred dollar bill. "You sure you really wanna get him Benadryl?"

"Yes." I chuckled and watched Axel walk off in the direction of Wal-mart. Then I bolted into Best Buy and headed straight for the stereo department. The area was thankfully not too busy. I began looking around at the speakers and decks but I didn't really know what I was looking for. I knew nothing about these things. That was when a voice entered my range and it was dreadfully familiar though I hadn't heard it in years. It was then I realized that I forgot to remember, my cousin Sora worked at Best Buy.

"Do you need any assistance?" My cousin asked all too cheerily. I cringed because this could be potentially dangerous. If he knew what had happened to me then he might end up getting everyone else in trouble and I really didn't want that.

I spun around to face him and forced a smile. "H-hey Sora! Long time no see!"

"Roxas? Hey! I haven't seen you in forever! What are you doing here?" He asked as he reached out to hug me. Yuck. And wasn't it obvious enough what I was doing? I was trying to shop just like everybody else and here he was, interrupting me!

"Oh, you know. Just trying to get a little last minute shopping done." I said with a shrug. I didn't want to be rude. He's my cousin after all. "Maybe you could help me? I really don't know a thing about car stereos. I want something good, but cheap enough for me to afford. What about these Pioneer ones?"

Sora nodded quickly. "Yeah, Pioneer is a decent brand and they're on sale right now for really cheap so it would probably be your best bet. Are you buying it for Uncle Cid?"

I froze at the mention of my dad. I hadn't really given much thought to the man in the past few weeks and I didn't want to. My mildly cheery disposition fled and my face fell to a scowl. "No. No, I'm buying it for my best friend."

"Oh. Well..." Sora seemed to pick up my irritation almost immediately. "H-how is Xion?"

"She's fine." I snapped. I grabbed up the speakers and the deck that I wanted and I felt terribly like shit. "See you later Sora..."

"W-well, wait! Are you guys coming over for dinner tomorrow night?" Sora shouted after me, but I ignored him. No we weren't so no, I wasn't going to answer. I was just going to take my purchase to the front and pay for it, and that's exactly what I did. Then I hurried along with the rest of my shopping so I could hide Axel's gifts with everything else. I ended up hiding the boxes inside a really hideous Christmas sweater that I bought for Saïx.

In no time at all, Axel and I were back on our way home and I was upstairs tediously wrapping the gifts as quickly as I could.

A bad tie for Xemnas, Jack Daniel's Single Barrel for Xigbar, an electric shaver for Xaldin, three boxes of Benadryl for Vexen, a Best Buy gift card for Lexaeus, a cook book for Zexion, a really, really ugly sweater for Saïx, speakers and a deck for Axel, Red Vines for Demyx, Mad Gab for Luxord, some coffee beans from Starbucks for Marluxia, a box of Godiva chocolate for Larxene and finally, a charm bracelet for Xion because I remembered that she asked dad for one every year and he never got her one. Then of course, a squeaky toy for Goofy.

I sat back staring at my pile of presents happily, feeling I'd done a fairly good job on such short notice. That was when the normally foreign sound of the doorbell echoed through the house. I stood and started over to the door to look out. It was about five o'clock now and it was weird enough that anybody might be coming to the house, especially this late in the day. I peered over the railing to see Lexaeus make his way to the door. He looked out the window and then pulled the door open slowly. From the angle I was at, I couldn't see who was at the door. I did however hear a very familiar voice saying "Merry Christmas" but no, it couldn't be right. Right?

I bolted down the stairs and over to the front door just to double check and I could barely believe my eyes. "N-naminé?"

"Merry Christmas, Roxas." Naminé said with a bright smile. I stared in awe at the sight before me. Naminé stood there in the most adorable Mrs. Clause outfit I think I've ever seen a girl wear. Riku was unfortunately behind her but that didn't matter at the moment.

"Naminé, what are you doing here?" I asked. I hoped the answer would be that she was coming back to stay forever and ever and ever and we would get married and have three kids and move far, far away from here. But no. No, that would be too much to ask for.

"I came to bring presents for you guys. You were all so nice to me and you took really good care of me. I wanted to thank you and I wanted to visit you guys. I hope that's alright." She looked past me to Lexaeus who only responded with a nod.

I ushered them in and lead them into the main hall where the giant Christmas tree stood tall and proud. Others who were curious when they had heard the doorbell were now making their way from their rooms to come join us and everybody seemed really surprised.

"Naminé!" Xion said with excitement as she rushed up to the girl. "What are you doing back? We thought we'd never see you again!"

"Well I missed you guys and I wanted to bring you all some baked goods." Naminé said cheerfully.

"Please tell me that I didn't just hear that." Zexion said when he entered the room. "Baked goods? Are you the one that baked them by any chance?"

"As a matter of fact, I did." Naminé said proudly. "And you're going to try them!"

"I highly doubt you can force me." Zexion retorted.

Soon others joined us and the main hall was full with everyone chattering away. I felt guilty for not having a gift for Naminé but then an idea sparked in my brain. I grabbed my sister by her wrist and dragged her upstairs to my room. "Xion, we need to talk."

"What about?" She asked skeptically. "And why now? Naminé is only going to be here for a short while and I would think of all people, you would want to spend the most time with her since you liked her so much."

"You're right, I like her a lot and that's why I need to talk to you. Look, I bought you a Christmas present but I don't have anything to give to Naminé and I want to give her your present. I'll go back to the store and get you a replacement but I really need a present now." I looked to my sister pleadingly. "Please, Xion."

Xion stared at me for a long while before finally cocking an eyebrow like she didn't believe me. "You bought me a present? What did you get me?"

"I can't tell you that!" I grumbled and crossed my arms because I really didn't have time for this but I knew my sister was just going to stretch this all out and make me regret even asking her. "Look, I promise I'll buy you a replacement. Just, please!"

"Not unless you tell me what it is." She said with a smirk. Damn her, damn her to hell.

"Alright, fine! I got you one of those stupid charm bracelet things you always wanted. Now that you've ruined the surprise, can I give it to Naminé and buy you another one?" I stared hard at my sister but the look on her face changed to a somewhat sad expression.

"Y-you bought me a charm bracelet? I've wanted one for as long as I can remember. Mom had one and I..." She looked to the floor before turning her eyes back to me. "If you promise you'll buy me another one as soon as you can, then I'll let you give mine to Naminé."

"I promise. Thanks Xion, you're the best!" I rushed over to the pile of presents and picked out the small little box that I had set aside. Then Xion and I went back downstairs and sat around while everybody listened to Xigbar tell how our team had won the massive snowball fight.

Before I knew it, it was already seven o'clock and Naminé was ready to leave. I felt like I didn't even get to spend any time with her which depressed me, but she explained that they had driven for eight hours just to get here to visit but they also needed to return in time for Christmas to be with her brother. Everybody walked her to the door which made it even more awkward for me to try and give her the present but thankfully Xion knew I wanted privacy and she forced everyone away.

I took in a deep breath and looked to Riku. "Hey, maybe you should go get your car warmed up. Oh, and Merry Christmas." I watched the older boy grumble under his breath before storming off toward his car, clearly irritated about even being here. Then I turned my eyes back to Naminé and presented the gift to her. "Here Naminé, I want to give this to you."

Naminé picked the present up out of my hand and smiled at it. "To Xion, from Roxas?"

"Ooh, ha! Yeah, that... Xion said she didn't mind if I..." I was cut off then by the most wonderful thing ever. Naminé pressed her lips to mine quickly and smiled. Then she handed the present back. "It's the thought that counts Roxas, and for the record, all I really wanted for Christmas was to see you."

"I wish you didn't have to go." I muttered. "I really miss you."

"I know." She said, but she didn't sound that sad. "But Riku said he'd bring me back to visit whenever I want. So there's always that. I'll be back to visit again. I promise." She smiled her beautiful smile again and I was just about ready to lean in and kiss her but we were interrupted by Riku honking his horn. She laughed softly and shook her head."I've got to go Roxas. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Naminé." I watched her turn away and now that I knew it wasn't the last time I would see her, I was a lot less sad about it this time.


	23. Chapter 23: New Year in Vegas

GOOD NEWS EVERYBODY!

I can FINALLY talk to you guys about stuff again! I finally put my foot down and told my stalker that if she didn't leave me the hell alone once and for all I would reveal EVERYTHING I know about her to EVERYONE she holds dear, her parents and siblings and all of her friends. I will reveal her for the slimy, conniving, sneaky little bitch that she is and I really don't give a shit about who gets pissed off anymore.

DAMN it is liberating! I'm so tired of trying to be a good person all the time. I've unleashed the bitch, and you don't want to fuck with the bitch.

So yeah, life. It's been pretty hectic lately, dealing with my grandpa's passing. I've decided that right now I really just need to stay in California to help take care of my grandma and her house and everything that needs taken care of. It is also beneficial for me because we actually have a community that appreciates art here and I've recently got back into painting. If you're interested, I have some of my paintings up on my dA page (sugarbeatangel. deviantart. com) but nothing really special.

Now you can enjoy this chapter which is almost two weeks late! :D New character at the end, make your guesses!

* * *

Christmas had brought me some really exciting things. Presents, for example. Everyone had bought Xion and I the same gifts and they were all things we needed for our rooms. Some people paired their money together, like Xigbar, Demyx and Zexion. They had pooled their money together to buy us each a chair. Not just a regular chair but one of those super comfortable squishy chairs which went perfectly with the gift Axel bought us, 22'' flat screen t.v.s which we were obviously very excited about. Larxene bought us some clothes hangers that came in handy with the portable closets Marluxia and Luxord bought us. Xemnas had bought us nightstands where we could put the lamps that Saïx bought us. Lexaeus had bought us some decent blankets for our beds. Xaldin bought us each an oscelating fan which I had a feeling would come in handy during summer. Apparently Vexen thought we needed more of an education because he bought us gift cards for Borders but I'd just buy DVDs with mine. Then everyone as a group had bought us a really nice outfit, a suit and tie for me and a pretty gown for Xion.

We also got some smaller gifts in our stockings, tiny bottles of alcohol, candy, grooming supplies and strangely enough, fake IDs. I had no idea what good the fake IDs would do us until...

"That's right! Vegas, baby! The lights! The casinos! The party in the streets! Man, you're going to have so much fun, Rox." Axel said excitedly. "Come on, pack!"

"Pack what? And what do you mean we're going to Vegas? Do you know how bat shit insane it is to go to Vegas for New Year's Eve?" I asked. "Do you know how packed the streets get after seven?"

"Of course I do, Roxas." Axel said with a smirk. "We do this every year. It's a..."

"Tradition, right." I nodded in annoyance and stood so I could pick out some clothes. I knew they weren't going to force me to go but the last thing I wanted was to be staying home alone. I'd rather sit in a car for fifteen hours through all the traffic than sit at home alone.

"Be sure to grab your suit, oh and Goofy's leash and collar. I've arranged for him to stay with a dog sitter while we're gone this weekend." Axel opened the door to the bathroom and began rummaging through the cabnets. "Where the hell is your toothbrush?"

"Don't worry about it." I said disgruntled. "I'll pack it tomorrow before we leave."

"Tomorrow? Rox, we're leaving tonight! Traffic is going to make this trip take anywhere from twelve to twenty hours. If we leave by ten tonight, we can make it there early enough to check into the hotel and get ready to party." Axel found my toothbrush and held it up triumphantly. "I'll meet you downstairs. You can put your stuff in my bag."

"Alright." I picked out a few shirts and a couple pairs of pants and threw them onto my bed along with my suit. Then I grabbed Goofy's collar and leash and put them on him. I started downstairs with my dog and sure enough, Axel was waiting for me. He took my clothes and began packing them away into his suit case while I took Goofy out to the Mustang. In no time at all we were on our way to Vegas after dropping Goofy off with the strange old lady that lived down the street.

I fell asleep in the car, the stereo I bought Axel quietly playing the new 30 Seconds to Mars CD Demyx had got him for Christmas. By the time we reached Las Vegas, the sun was up and shining bright and we were in front of the Bellagio, ready to check in. I was astounded because reservations for the Bellagio are hard enough to get on regular days, let alone New Year's Eve. "We're really staying here?"

"Of course we are! We have to stay on the strip! That's where the party is!" Xigbar said as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "You little shits are going to get so piss drunk tonight, we don't want to have to lug you very far."

"Drunk?" I looked up at Xigbar warily. "We're not old enough to drink."

"You got your fake ID with you, don't you? You can gamble, you can drink. You can do whatever the hell you want tonight kid." Xigbar smirked and then put his other arm around Axel. "I can see it now. You two kids will be falling all over yourselves. And Xion too for that matter."

"You can't hold your alcohol, Axel?" I asked looking up at the redhead. I found it hard to believe but then again, nothing surprised me anymore.

Axel rolled his eyes and crossed his arms but I was almost sure I saw a slight blush on his cheeks. "I can hold my alcohol just fine! Xigbar just likes to rag on me because the first time we came here I was sixteen and I drank way too much. But since then I've been fine. He's the one who can't handle his alcohol. Always running around screaming at the top of his lungs and making an ass of himself."

"But at least I remember it and I have fun while I'm doing it. Unlike somebody I know." Xigbar retorted with a wide grin directed at Axel.

I felt bad for poor Axel. I had to stick up for my friend, at least to Xigbar. "Yeah well what about Demyx? I can't imagine that he's a particularly great drinker."

"Oh, he's not. He's about as good at it as you think he is. That's not the point. The point is, I expect much better from Axel and he can't deliver." Xigbar patted Axel's shoulder and then walked ahead of us.

I turned my eyes to Axel and smiled. "Don't worry, we don't have to drink with him. We have the whole strip to party on and plenty of casinos everywhere. Chances are, we won't even see him tonight."

"We're rooming with him." Axel said with a sigh. "We'll see him and he'll tease us. I don't really care about that though. I'm just so damn tired."

"Oh that's right. You drove the whole way. Well, Xigbar's checking in now so you can take a nap. I think I'll hit a casino or two. Maybe I can double my cash." I said with a laugh. "I'll see you later."

"Not so fast!" Xion shouted after me. "You're not going anywhere without me! I want to play too! I've always wanted to try the slots!"

"You shouldn't wander off by yourselves on your first trip to Vegas!" Demyx chimed in. "I'll go with you."

"I grew up here, idiot." I said in annoyance. It wouldn't be a deterrent though, I knew that much. Farewell to some much needed alone time. "I don't need a chaperon and I don't need an annoying little sister following me around."

"Well, you're certainly not going alone." Saïx said stalely. I watched him reach out and snag Zexion by his collar. "Take someone level headed with you."

"What?" Zexion turned his gaze over to Saïx in disbelief. "You can't seriously be suggesting that I accompany them!"

Saïx's eyes narrowed down at Zexion but Zexion's eyes just narrowed right back. It was frightening, honestly. Neither of them said a word for what seemed like an eternity and I was sure one of them was about to kill the other.

Then Xemnas walked up and put a hand on both of their shoulders. "Saïx you should accompany them as well. It would be helpful and I trust you with the money." I watched with interest as Xemnas pulled out a roll of hundreds and handed it over to Saïx who quickly tucked it away. "Make sure they have fun. That's what this trip is about."

As soon as Xemnas was out of earshot, Saïx grumbled and stormed past us. "Let's go." He demanded and we were all quick to follow with the exception of Zexion of course, who seemed to drag along slowly behind all of us.

We made our way South down Las Vegas Boulevard and it seemed like everybody had something different in mind rather than gambling in a casino. Demyx was the first to pipe up about what he wanted to do. "It's almost five-thirty. Let's go catch the Sirens of Treasure Island show!"

"Those bimbos?" Zexion said as he rolled his eyes. "You want to waste your time watching some brainless girls dance badly when you could be learning something relevant to existence. The Mirage isn't far from here and they have the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat exhibit. Or since we're headed South, the Luxor has exhibits dedicated to the human body and artifacts found in the Titanic. Not far from there is the Shark Reef exhibit at Mandalay Bay and further down they have the aquarium at the Silverton."

"Boring! Look, you're not here with Vexen. You're here with us and there's no way we're going to go to a bunch of boring old exhibits." Xion said to Zexion's suggestions. I had to agree with her, snotty as she sounded. There was no way I was wasting my valuable time in Vegas _learning_. "Let's go to the Stratosphere and the Sahara and ride some rides!"

"That's completely on the other side of the strip!" I protested. Don't get me wrong, rides are fun and all but I wasn't keen to walk that far and honestly, Demyx was the last person I wanted to be getting on any thrill rides with. "Look, I haven't eaten since we stopped at the Denny's in Tonopah for breakfast this morning. I just want somewhere I can relax, enjoy the atmosphere, have a drink and get some really good food."

We all stopped walking for a moment and stared at each other. I don't know why this decision had been so hard before when it was so clear to us now. For the first and probably the last time, Demyx, Saïx, Zexion, Xion and I were all on the same wavelength and we all vocalized this with one word.

"Hooters."

Thirty minutes later we were all seated inside the Hooters restaurant inside the Hooters Hotel and Casino with a plate of wings and glasses of beer in front of us. Demyx was flirting shamelessly with our waitress and Zexion kept making remarks about who's I.Q. was actually higher, Demyx or the Hooters girl's. Saïx ate in quiet but I could tell he was still irritated and so we didn't disturb him. Xion and I were content with our chicken wings which had always been our favorite thing to get at Hooters.

Before we knew it, it was already seven o'clock and we were on our way back to the Bellagio to get ready to party. After a long, hot bath and a few tiny bottles of complimentary alcohol, I was ready to take on the night. Axel however was still dead asleep and showed no signs of moving so I figured I'd be spending my night with Demyx and Xion and that was really alright with me.

Demyx was his normal loud and chatty self but I found out that alcohol actually made him louder and chattier. Alcohol only made Xion more obnoxious, and Xigbar and Larxene too for that matter. Demyx, Xion, Larxene, Marluxia, Luxord and I all wandered around in the street which had been closed off for the patrons of the strip, and made our way into bars and clubs to get a few drinks before heading back out into the cold wind to celebrate. We did that most of the night and soon Axel and Zexion joined us. Saïx was nowhere to be found but I had to assume he was off with Xemnas and the other old men, or maybe even in bed already.

Eleven fifty-nine hit fast and with a belly full of alcohol, I rooted myself in with the massive crowd of people on the street. Everyone was loud at this point and I had a pounding headache but I was excited. 2011 was going to be a new year for me. Everything would be different. Everything would be better. I could officially say goodbye to my old life and hello to my new one.

I stood staring eagerly at the sky surrounded by friends and strangers alike when I felt someone bump into me from behind. Drunk as I was, I turned around ready to fight but I saw with surprise that the person nudging me forward was a girl only a few years older than me. She looked a lot like Xion to me, right down to her short black bob, but she was clearly older.

I don't think fate hated me more than it did at that moment.

"I'm sorry!" The girl shouted at me over the roar of the crowd. "I didn't mean to bump into you!"

"That's alright!" I responded quickly. "It's so chaotic right now!"

"Tell me about it! I got off work two hours ago and it took me that long just to get out here!" The girl smiled at me as someone in the distance began to count down from twenty. She stuck her hand out to mine and shook it vigorously. "It's nice to meet you! My name is Yuffie! What's yours?"

Maybe it was the alcohol in my stomach, or maybe it was the sudden realization that the girl shaking my hand was no stranger at all, but I had an unfightable urge to vomit.

So I did, all over the nice suit I had got for Christmas.

I looked up at Yuffie in horror. She couldn't see my face. She couldn't recognize me. If she did, it was all over. I turned away from her and bolted through the crowd toward the entrance to the hotel.

The sound of people counting backward echoed through my ears followed by flashes of light and loud booms from the fireworks. I ignored it all and threw myself into the elevator at the Bellagio hoping to get to my room as fast as I could. I just wanted to sleep and forget the whole night.


	24. Chapter 24: Home? What is Home, Even?

Short chapter this time guys. I'm sorry! I've been super busy lately!

See, there's this art show I'm in and I have to have all my pieces in by this Monday! The only problem is that I told myself I was going to surpass the number of entries I had in the last art show considering the theme of this one is _in my element_! I still have three pieces left to finish! D:

So I've kinda been sweatin that for the past two weeks and not doing much of anything else. I haven't even got to read the latest chapter of Meanings from Brinkmess! D: I promise, I will after all this painting settles down. Meanwhile, everybody else, you should go read it! Seriously!

Now without further delay (and because I can't really afford the time to keep babbling on) here is your chapter! Yuffie's relationship with Roxas is revealed. Enjoy!

* * *

"You know..." Yuffie started as she tossed my wallet to me from across the table. "If you're going to go through the trouble of making a fake I.D. you should really change the name you use on it. You're far too easy to track this way."

"How did you get this?" I asked, scooping my wallet up in desperation. It had been missing for the past day and a half and I was panicked because it basically left me confined to the hotel. I couldn't drink and I couldn't gamble. Everything else was too boring.

"I'm a pickpocket, you moron." Yuffie said as she flashed the twenty dollar bill that had been tucked in my wallet.

"Hey! Give that back!" I shouted and reached across the table to grab it but she was quicker.

"Not so fast! First you have to answer some questions!" Yuffie crossed her arms and looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "Like what the hell are you doing frolicking around Las Vegas with a fake I.D. when you know how dangerous it is? Is Xion here with you and does she have a fake I.D. too? What are you doing with these people here and most importantly, where the hell have you two been? Mom and I have been worried sick..."

"Worried sick my ass! She abandoned us and took you with her! She didn't want us! She only wanted you!" I looked across the table at my older sister with tears burning in my eyes. Axel and Xigbar were on either side of us but they might as well have been furniture because they were useless. "Xion and I have been with dad this entire time and we've been just fine!"

"Then who are these people?" Yuffie asked, motioning to both Axel and Xigbar. "Not friends of dad's, that's for sure! Are you in some kind of trouble, Roxas?"

"Don't answer that." Axel said quickly as he stepped closer to me. "You don't have to answer anything. We can have her escorted out."

"No." I raised my hand to Axel but my eyes were narrowed at Yuffie. "I can handle this. The answer is no, Yuffie. I'm not in any kind of trouble. In fact I'd say life is going petty damn swell right now, no thanks to you or _Shera_."

"Don't you use her first name like that! She's our mother and she loves you and if you'd quit being a cocky little ass for a few seconds I'd tell you exactly why you haven't been with us!" Yuffie shouted as she slammed her hands on the table. There was a long silence followed by Yuffie inhaling deeply and beginning to speak again. "I was nine when mom decided it was time to leave dad. She couldn't handle the debt and the moving around and all the threats from the collectors anymore. She loved dad but she loved us more and she had to get away so she packed up all our things into the car and drove to grandma's. It took us a few days to get there and get unpacked. By the time she went back to get you guys, it was too late. Dad had already moved."

I crossed my arms and stared hard at my sister. I didn't want to believe her. I shouldn't. But I did. Still, I couldn't let her know that. "And why should I believe a word of that? Coming from a pick pocket no less! By the way, I'm sure mom is _very proud_."

"Look, what I do to get by is none of your business! I have to do it! The fact is, ever since I turned seventeen I decided to move back to Vegas so I could look for you and Xion. Mom stayed in Carson because she knew dad had family there but we never did find you." Yuffie scowled at me and I felt a bit bad. "We almost gave up hope of finding you but we never stopped looking. And here you are in Vegas after all this time. You look so grown up. I didn't even recognize you. Is Xion here with you? I want to see her too."

"Look, Yuffie. Things are complicated... I..." I glanced at Xigbar and then at Axel. I knew I couldn't explain the situation to Yuffie without possibly risking getting the whole group of them in trouble. I didn't even know if I wanted to go back to living with my mom after not having her around for ten years. I didn't know what she was like. I barely even remembered her to be honest. How could I willingly give up my new home for something that was so uncertain?

Axel had a look of concern on his face and it was also evident in his voice. "Rox, maybe now's not the time to..."

"Now is as good a time as any!" Yuffie shouted. "I want answers! What are you doing here, Roxas? What are you doing in the Bellagio and just who are these people?"

I looked to Axel who seemed even more concerned than he had been just two seconds prior. I looked to Xigbar, but he only seemed interested in the situation. Then I took a deep breath and looked at my sister. "They're my friends, Yuffie. I was practically an orphan and they took me in and I'm really grateful for that. I'm happy where I'm at. I don't want to go home. As for why I'm here in the Bellagio, we were celebrating New Year's Eve here but we're leaving soon."

"What about Xion? Is she here?" Yuffie asked. "You may not want to come home but maybe she does. A girl needs her mother, Roxas."

"Xion's not here. I don't know where she is." I said quickly. I stood and stared down at my sister and I felt like a real ass but I really didn't have any other choice but to lie. "It's time for you to go, Yuffie. If you need help out, I can have someone escort you but I think it would be best for you to leave of your own free will. You can keep the twenty. It seems like you need it a lot more than I do."

"What?" Yuffie stared up at me with a mixture of anger and hurt on her face and I did my best to ignore it as she began to grow to hysterics. "Roxas, you can't just kick me out of here! We've barely been reunited! Besides, I know you're lying! I know Xion's here! You better give her the chance to decide for herself because that's not fair!"

I tried my hardest not to care. I tried my hardest to seem like a total douche bag. I turned to Xigbar and let out a long sigh. "Would you please make arrangements for her to be escorted out?"

"No!" Yuffie screamed as she slammed her fist on the table. "No! This is not over!"

But it was. It was all over. I walked to my things and began packing them away in Axel's bag trying to ignore my sister's angry shouts behind me. Soon Xaldin and Lexaeus were inside the room dragging Yuffie anything but gently out the door and she was screaming the whole way. I felt Axel's hand on my shoulder but I pulled away from him. "Look, I do not want to talk right now."

"Alright, Rox. Fair enough. Just..." Axel sighed and started over to his own pile of clothes. "just know that I'm here when you're ready."

I nodded quickly but I didn't feel like I would ever be ready to talk about what happened here today. My sister that I haven't seen in ten years found me and I wasn't even happy about it. I was worried. I knew what would happen next and I think the others did too. She'd tell my mom. Their search for me would start all over again only this time they knew what I look like. And then there was Xion. I didn't know if I should tell her or just leave her in the dark about it.

I had way too many thoughts floating around in my head as we stood in the lobby for checkout. Were Xigbar and Axel going to tell Xemnas about what happened? Did Yuffie make it out of here alive? What would happen if she managed to track me down again? My mind was on a rampage and I could barely concentrate long enough to walk out to the waiting cars. But what I found waiting for me was even worse. Yuffie was outside waiting and she was shouting at me.

Axel cringed and rushed me to his car but I knew I couldn't let Xion know who Yuffie was and she seemed plenty curious. I forced my sister into the back of the Mustang and closed the door. Axel barely had any time to start the engine and pull away before Yuffie began running after us.

Xion was of course full of questions. "Who was that girl?" She asked as she leaned against my seat. "You're not two-timing Naminé, are you?"

"No! Look, don't worry about that girl. She's just some lunatic." I muttered. I felt sick and I didn't want to talk about this. I didn't want Xion to pry because I've always been a really bad liar and she was always really good at knowing when I was lying.

"Hey, wait! I know who she is!" Xion shouted. I froze and Axel turned pale but we tried our best to keep our calm and thankfully for good reason. Xion didn't know a thing. "That's the girl you were talking to right before midnight on New Year's Eve!"

"Yeah." I nodded quickly even though Xion was behind me and probably couldn't see me.

"Well, what the hell was she doing waiting for you outside the hotel?" Xion was getting skeptical now. I could hear it in her voice so I knew I had to be convincing. I had to be as truthful as possible without giving too much away.

"She was a pick pocket. She stole my wallet from me and it had my I.D. and room key in it. She brought it back to me though." I looked at Xion's face in the side mirror and I could tell she didn't believe me.

"Why the hell would a pick pocket steal from you and then bring your stuff back?" Xion demanded. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"I don't know!" I shouted back to her. I was getting frustrated but mostly it was with my inability to be a convincing liar. "Maybe she thought I was hot or something. Or maybe she felt bad because all I had in my wallet was a twenty! She was freaking crazy! Who knows why crazy people do half the shit they do? All I know is that we have a long drive home and I don't want to spend it talking about some insane bitch."

"If you don't wanna tell me, that's fine!" Xion said with a huff. "Axel probably knows, right Axel? You'll tell me. Who was that girl?"

"Look, Xion..." Axel started. He looked like he was ready to vomit and I realized for the first time just how seriously worried he was about this. I mean sure, I knew everything could be destroyed in the blink of an eye if Yuffie found out too much but I didn't think anybody else would be that concerned about it. Apparently I was wrong. Axel was a nervous wreck. I wondered if he was worried about going to prison or if his concerns were something else entirely. His voice was uneasy as he continued to speak to my sister and I found out that he's a worse liar than I am. "I really don't know who that girl was. But Roxas is right. We have a long road ahead of us and I just don't think it's an appropriate topic for conversation."

"You're a jerk! You're both jerks! I know you're just covering for something!" Xion said as she flew into her normal hysterics for no legitimate reason. "I'm not speaking to either one of you until you can tell me the truth!"

And just like that, it was silent. Axel and I looked back and forth at each other every once in a while but Xion spent most of her time pouting in the back seat. The drive home was long and awkward with only the sound of quiet music and passing cars to fill emptiness.

I dreaded arriving home. I was mortified at the thought that I might just have to face Xemnas over this little mishap and I was afraid of what the outcome might be. Would I get kicked out? Would they kill me? Would they kill Yuffie?

All I knew was that I didn't want this long drive to end.


	25. Chapter 25: I Screw Up All the Time

Hey guys! :D

Man, I am super happy today. Dunno why!

Hey, I'ma be at Santa Monica pier this Saturday with my friend Moni and my husband. COME CHILL WITH US! I'll be wearing a white and black plaid skirt and a black Misfits tank top and my swim suit will be black and white zebra print with hot pink straps. I also have a tattoo on my left ankle and I have red hair. Moni will probably be in all black and my husband is super tall with a weird mohawk thing. You can't miss us! COME HANG OUT WITH US! I'm serious, I won't think you're weird or anything. It'd be cool. We'll ride the rides together and eat tacos on the pier!

Anyhow, enjoy this chapter! Poor Roxas, man... he can't win for lose.

* * *

"Who was that young woman, Roxas?" It was what everyone had been asking me since we got home but the person asking me now had me trembling in my seat. Xemnas stared at me, his almost inhumanly bright eyes piercing right through every wall of defense I had up. Behind me I could feel Saïx's gaze burning just as intensely. There was no lying now. I couldn't get away with it.

"She's my sister." I replied quietly. "My older sister."

"And how did she find us?" Xemnas asked. There was little emotion in his voice or on his face but I could tell that the question was a skeptical one. He was accusing me of being in contact with her without just coming out and saying it.

"It really was just a coincedence." I said. I was starting to panic. I didn't know what would happen if I couldn't get them to believe me. "I haven't seen her in over ten years. Then she just pops up out of nowhere and steals my wallet! You can ask Axel. He was with me the whole time."

I heard Saïx scoff from behind me before he made his way into my line of sight. "Coincidence indeed. You can't really expect us to believe that. We all know that Axel would lie to protect you in an instant. He has his little fondness for you. I personally find it hard to believe that you made no effort to contact your sister and inform her of your whereabouts."

"I believe you, Roxas." Xemnas said cooly. It should have relieved me but for some reason, every time he spoke it put me on edge. "From the time we arrived at the hotel to the time of the alleged incident, you were never alone. Saïx was with you most of the day and it would have to have been under his watchful eye that you would have made contact with your sister. Unless Saïx is willing to admit responsibility in his lack of ability to keep tabs on you, I have no reason to believe you contacted your sister at that time." Xemnas gaze flew to Saïx, but the menacing man only stood with lips tightly shut. "Xigbar has already assured me that you made no such efforts while in the hotel room either. I have verified this with the hotel. No calls were made from your room that day at all, minus one call to room service placed by Axel."

"But that doesn't mean he didn't do it." Saïx protested. "It's the only thing that makes sense! He had to..."

"It seems clear to me," Xemnas interrupted. "that Roxas is a victim of circumstance. Certain things occur for certain reasons and it just so happened to occur to our boy here. Perhaps it was a way of showing Roxas that his true home is here and this is where he belongs. This is where he wants to stay. He could have easily chose to go with his sister. He chose us, however. His true family."

I smiled as Xemnas said this. A genuine smile. He made a good point. I _did_ choose them and not only that, they chose me too. This was my family.

Unfortunately my smile was short lived as Xemnas followed his previous statement with "However..." Xemnas folded one hand over the other and stared hard at me and I nearly pissed my pants. "you do understand that this means you will have to lay low for a while. You can't go outdoors and you can't go on retrievals for an undetermined amount of time. This includes Xion as well."

My face fell at this news. Trapped in my home? "Seriously?"

"I'm sorry, but until we know how your sister will handle the situation, there is no way you'll be leaving this home. She has a fresh image of you in her mind, Roxas. She may report you missing. A state wide search could go into affect. The last thing we need is for you to be spotted during an Amber Alert." Xemnas let out a long sigh but it seemed forced. "Until further notice, Roxas, you're grounded."

Grounded. Awesome. Grounded. I stared at Xemnas blinking calmly, trying to run this all over in my head. I was grounded. This totally and utterly sucked. I didn't want to be in the room with him anymore. "C-can I go, now?"

Xemnas nodded. "Yes, you may be excused."

I stood slowly and made my way to my room. Grounded. Fucking grounded. This was so lame. I stormed into my room and slammed the door closed but of course, I couldn't sulk like I wanted. I flopped down on my bed but Axel was in my room in an instant and he was a nervous reck. He sat down at the foot of my bed and stared at me. I looked back at him in irritation. "What?"

"Well..." He said slowly. "What happened?"

"Uhg! It's terrible!" I groaned as I pulled my pillow over my face. "Fucking terrible!"

I could feel Axel grip the sheets at the foot of the bed and he seemed hesitant to ask his next question. "H-how terrible?"

"It's the worst possible thing!" I let out a loud grunt and squeezed the pillow tighter over my face. "I'm fucking grounded!"

"You're what?" I felt Axel shift lightly as he said this. I could tell he was uneasy. "I couldn't hear you."

I grumbled and pulled the pillow away from my face. This was seriously annoying. It was embarrassing enough to be grounded. Having to tell Axel on top of it was just too much. If he wasn't so worried I wouldn't have bothered but I knew I couldn't keep him in the dark. "I said I'm grounded."

"Rox..." It was at that moment that I heard Axel burst into hysterical laughter. I was instantly offended. How could he laugh? This wasn't funny! Then in a moment of sheer awkwardness, he pounced on top of me and hugged me tightly. "Don't fucking do shit like that! You had me worried it was something serious!"

"This _is_ serious, Axel! I'm grounded. I can't leave the house." I replied in irritation. Of course this must have sounded ridiculous to him because he only squeezed me tighter and laughed harder. When I thought about it though, this really wasn't that serious after all. They could have killed me or kicked me out. They weren't doing that. Thinking about it now did bring a small chuckle to my lips. "I guess I did get off kinda easy."

"You're damn straight you did." Axel smiled and sat up slowly but his smile sort of faded. "Roxas, there's something you should know. Something I never told you about before."

I cocked an eyebrow at Axel. Suddenly so serious, the change bothered me. "What's up?"

"I never wanted to mention it because, well, I don't like to think about it." The redhead sighed and looked down at the floor. Whenever he was this serious, I was nervous. Axel was almost never serious. "I have an older brother named Reno."

"Wait, wait..." I suppressed a chuckle at this. "Reno? Like the city?"

"Shut up, my mom was a druggy and that's the city we were born in. What more do you expect? Anyway, he's four years older than me." Axel said quietly. "He went through a lot of the same stuff I did when I was little. Lucky for him though, our grandparents took him in soon after I was born. We hardly saw each other except for when my mom needed money from my grandparents. I barely knew him. Hell, there were even times that I forgot I had a brother. Then one day when I was twelve we ran into each other. I didn't know him but he recognized me right away. I tried to avoid him but he followed me all the way back here."

I looked up at Axel curiously. I didn't know where he was going with this story but he had me curious. "What happened?"

"Well, he demanded to know what I was doing with these people. He said he was looking for me all the time and that he was glad he finally found me. Xemnas explained the situation and Reno understood. Still, he was determined to pay off our mother's debt, so he did. Pretty soon I was free to go." Axel smiled and shook his head. "It didn't matter though. I didn't want to be free. I loved living here. This was my family. Sure, I had a brother and grandparents that loved me and were worried sick but I didn't know them. They weren't my family like these people are and I had to make a choice. Reno took me back home with him and my grandparents showered me with love and presents but I only stayed there about a week before I decided to run away and come back here. Basically I'm telling you this because the same thing will probably happen to you, Roxas. If your sister finds you again and she decides she wants to bail you out, you'll have to make the same choice. Xemnas won't refuse the money. It will come down to whether you want to go or stay."

I looked down at my feet in thought as Axel's words rolled around in my head. It was a lot to think about. I was certain that I'd already made my choice about where I wanted to be but I couldn't help but wonder how I might feel if Yuffie actually wanted to buy me back and Xemnas just agreed to let it happen. It seemed to me in that moment that perhaps I'd made the wrong choice. Yuffie wanted me back in her life but to Xemnas, I was still collateral and this was still his business. Ultimately I wasn't really family. Not to Xemnas anyway. That brought a question to my mind. "Axel, doesn't it bother you that Xemnas was willing to let you go for the money?"

"Well..." Axel took it upon himself to lay back down beside me as he thought about his answer. "Yeah, I guess. But I understood. First and foremost, Xemnas is a business man but the welfare of his family is still important to him. I don't think he would have let me leave if he thought I might be unhappy or in any sort of danger. Then again, I could be wrong."

I looked over at Axel but he seemed miles deep in thought. "And what about your brother? Do you ever feel like maybe you made the wrong choice? I mean, if you think about it, Xemnas got you _and_ the money. Your brother got nothing. Doesn't that seem a little unfair?"

"I write to my brother from time to time. Let him know I'm doing okay. We see each other every once in a while but we're not close. Not like I am with the people here. They're the ones I love. The ones I'm close to. My brothers and sisters. My family. You can't have both worlds, Rox. Sometimes you have to choose. It isn't always biology that makes a family. It's heart." Axel paused to look over at me with a smile. "You know that old saying, _"Home is where the heart is?"_ I think that's true. Any place can be your house but it's the place where your heart is that becomes your home. I could have stayed with Reno and that would have been my house. But this place... this place will always be my home. This is where I belong and I think it's where you belong too. You're my little brother and I love you."

I desperately wanted to make fun of Axel but it was hard when what he was saying made me feel... well, happy. I felt him ruffle my hair as I thought over what he had said. "Yeah, I guess you're right. The only question now is what do I tell Yuffie if she finds me again?"

"What did you just say?" Xion said in a demanding tone. I froze in fear, realizing a little too late that my sister had entered my room unannounced. "What do you mean _"again," _Roxas?"

I sat up and stared at my sister. I couldn't lie my way out of this one, she'd already heard enough. The best I could do now was damage control. "Xion, look..."

"You ass hole! You lied to me! That girl wasn't just some stranger! That was our sister!" Xion stormed over to me with clenched fists and I was sure she was just going to stomp and throw a tantrum but I was sadly mistaken. She slapped me across the face and I won't lie, it fucking hurt. "You dick! I can't believe you!"

I stared up at my sister. She had tears pouring down her face at this point and I felt really bad. My voice was quiet as I tried to respond but my heart was pounding in my ears so loudly I could barely hear myself. "Xion, I'm sorry. I..."

"You're sorry? I don't want to hear that you're sorry! Did you ever stop to think that maybe I would like to see my sister after ten years? No! You didn't because you were too damn worried about yourself!" Xion narrowed her eyes at Axel. "And you, you're just as bad as he is! Why is it that I am kept in the dark about this?"

"Xion, listen." Axel started as he stood up but she wouldn't have it.

"No, you listen! You had no right to keep that from me! I hate you! I hate you both and I'm never speaking to either one of you ever again!" And just like that, she ran out of the room in a burst of tears.

Axel looked at me and I looked back at him. We didn't need to speak to know that we were both very bothered by what had just happened here, not just because Xion might run and alert Yuffie of our whereabouts but because we had upset her and neither one of us wanted to do that.

I didn't know how I was going to fix this but I knew I needed to try.


	26. Chapter 26: Breaking News

OMG you guys. I'm SO SORRY! I've been so super busy lately with having an actual happy and busy life that I haven't been doing much else.

I've completely redone my bedroom (painting, sanding and staining furniture, redecorating etc.) and I've been doing a LOT of gardening lately. I have a very handsome vegetable garden growing in the back and some beautiful flowers/trees out front. Not to mention partying with friends, working and all that. I've also been riding my bike to work every day so that I can lessen the damage I do to this planet.

All of which leaves me very little time to write. :(

I apologize.

Anyhow, let's continue on! Nothing interesting has happened in those three months this story has been on break anyway!

* * *

It had been three months since Xion had declared she wouldn't be speaking to us and she stayed true to her word. Not only did she not speak to us, she wouldn't even speak a word if we were within earshot of her.

I never thought I'd miss my sister's voice, especially when she was normally driving me nuts with it, but I did.

Axel and I were at a complete loss of how to fix the situation and nobody else was really willing to help us. Xigbar only laughed at us and Larxene told us it served us right. Demyx was too nervous to try and help us and Marluxia was far too busy. We didn't want to involve Lexaeus or Zexion because we knew they'd likely report back to Saïx or Xemnas and we didn't want them to know we had screwed up so royally. The same went with Xaldin and Vexen; though they might not tell Xemnas they may still reprimand us in their own terrifying way. Luxord was one that actually tried to talk to Xion for us but it only resulted in her shunning him too.

It made the fact that I was trapped at home even more unbelievably wretched. There were days that the only other soul in the house aside from Goofy would be Xion but she would completely avoid me at all costs. Basically I was trapped in my room with nothing but my T.V. and basic cable to pass my time. That was when I saw it...

My face on the local news.

I grabbed the remote and quickly turned up the volume to hear what was being said. My heart dropped into my stomach. As the news caster read off a string of information about my height, weight and my all around appearance, I read the text underneath my picture. An outstanding arrest warrant had been issued by the state of Nevada for my arrest in relation to a series of incidents involving missing wallets on the Las Vegas strip. "That bitch!"

I was on my feet in an instant and I reached for my phone. I called Axel. It was the only thing I could think to do. I couldn't tell any of the others until I knew exactly how to handle this. I didn't want to be kicked out with nowhere to go and I certainly didn't want anybody to be pissed off at me.

The phone rang and rang and I started to panic. Axel just had to answer. He _had_ to. "Come on... pick up! Pick up!" Then thankfully he answered and I never thought I'd be so relieved to hear Axel's voice. "Axel! We've got a huge problem! There is a warrant out for my arrest! I just saw it on T.V."

There was a long pause before Axel answered me. _"What? Are you sure?"_

"Yes, I'm sure! I just saw it! I think Yuffie is blaming me for all the pick pocketing she was doing! This way she's passing blame from herself to me and she's getting a state wide search for me. This is a nightmare! What do I do?" I waited for an answer but there was only silence. "Axel? Axel, can you hear me?"

Then finally his voice came hesitantly over the phone. _"Y-yeah. I hear you. Look, don't do anything until I get there."_

"Well how long is that going to take you?" I asked in a panic but it was too late. Axel had already hung up. "Axel! Damn it!"

"Looks like you've got a problem." Said a voice from behind me. It really caught me off guard because this person swore they wouldn't be talking to me anymore. I whirled around to see Xion standing in my doorway with her arms crossed and a smug smile on her face.

Under normal circumstances I would have been pissed at the attitude in which Xion was holding herself but I was just so glad to finally hear her talking to me again that I let it slide off my back. "Xion... I thought..."

"Well I'm not mad anymore. It all worked out in my favor, all thanks to you. I get to see sis and mom again and you're probably going to go to jail for a little bit which, if you ask me, might do you a bit of good." Xion stared at me with a cold look in her eyes but I could only stare back. I still couldn't feel angry.

"Xion, don't be like this. I said I was sorry but you just don't understand how serious this is! It's more than just getting to see mom again. Everybody else here is involved. What if mom decides she doesn't want to pay dad's debt so she leaves us here? Can you live with knowing that? Or what if she does want us back but still refuses to pay? That can only go down one of two ways. Either the cops get involved and everybody here gets into serious trouble or they kill mom and Yuffie to keep their mouths shut!" I stared hard at my sister hoping that my words would sink in. "Think about it Xion. Think about it seriously because this is all really important!"

"Do you really think they'd hurt them?" Xion asked quietly. Suddenly her whole demeanor changed. "I mean, we're family and mom and Yuffie are _our_ family."

"Well so is dad but that doesn't mean they wouldn't do whatever it takes to get what they want. We're a family alright but just like any family our relationships are circumstantial. This is still Xemnas' business, Xion. It's how he makes money. We're still collateral and if mom can't pay then things are going to get messy, fast." I took in a deep breath and looked to Xion who had a look of despair on her face. It seemed like she finally understood the severity of the whole situation. "It's just better if mom never finds us."

"But that isn't fair..." Xion said, her voice evident that she was on the verge of tears.

"You're right. It isn't fair. But that's the way it is." Axel said as he entered my room, thankfully hearing the latter of the conversation so nothing needed to be repeated. "Roxas is right. It's just better for everyone involved if you don't see your mom and sister. It won't always have to be that way but right now it has to be. We tried to explain that to you before but you were so mad..."

"Look, I get it. Alright?" Xion wrapped her arms around herself and it looked a lot more like she was trying to hug herself for comfort rather than just stubbornly crossing her arms. "So what do we do now? There's a warrant out for Roxas' arrest. I saw it on the news."

Axel inhaled sharply and I knew that meant he was probably about to say something that might cause a stir. "You're probably not going to like the solution to that problem Xion. We have to turn things back around on your sister. She's really the pick pocket and like it or not, we can't let Roxas take the fall for that. It's too risky. All we have to do now is go forward to the police with information. Xigbar and Luxord and I will all report to the police that we saw a pick pocket but it wasn't Roxas. We'll describe Yuffie down the the color of her lipstick if we have to and we'll get the cops noses pointed in the right direction. Meanwhile, you're both still going to have to stay here until this all blows over. And not a word do anybody else about this either. Xemnas doesn't need to know unless we can't fix the problem. Understand?"

"But..." Xion started to protest but one look from Axel shut her mouth quickly.

"Look, this really sucks but it's all we can do for now. Yuffie started this and we're going to end it one way or another. I'm trying to opt for the happier method." Axel let out a small sigh and pulled out his phone. "I've gotta call Xigbar and Luxord and get them on board with this. I'll be right back."

"Alright." I watched Axel make his way out into the hall before I looked to my sister. She was upset, I could tell. The simple fact that she wasn't saying anything spoke volumes of how uncomfortable she really was. "It's all going to work out Xion. You have to believe in that." I smiled at her but she didn't respond. We stood there silently in my room a moment before finally she decided to speak.

"When I joined up with you guys it was my choice, not dad's. I thought that maybe if I stayed in long enough I could earn the money and resources that I would need to find mom again. I didn't think that instead of helping me, being here would hinder me. All I've wanted from the moment she left was to find her and get away from dad." Xion looked to me and I swear, I'd never seen her so serious. "If I could just make them see that neither side is the enemy... then maybe..."

"Alright." Axel said as he came back in my room. "Good news and bad news. Good news is that Xemnas already got wind of this little fiasco and Saïx is pissed. Apparently he wants to just send you both on your merry way and be done with it."

"That's the _good_ news?" I asked as my heart dropped into my stomach. Seriously, if that was good I didn't want to stick around and hear the bad.

"No, wait! That's the bad news. Sorry, I meant to say bad news. The _good_ news is that Xemnas was totally prepared for this and he isn't angry with you at all. He's having everybody make the same kind of call I was planning. Everybody is going to implicate Yuffie as the real pick pocket which should hopefully take the heat off of you. But unfortunately you're going to have to come forward too and just say that you were in Vegas and you were a victim of pick pocketing. You'll have to say you didn't see the person who did it. If you describe Yuffie to the cops then it will just seem like you got a bunch of your friends to make a call and accuse some random woman. You can't act like you know who did this. You have to seem concerned and cooperative but completely oblivious. If we play this right, everything will go perfectly." Axel smiled and placed his hands on his hips. "How does it sound?"

"It sounds completely insane but what choice do I have?" I sighed and flopped onto my bed. "If I ever want to be able to leave the house again I better do something. I'm tired of being cooped up here. I want to go on retrievals again! Hell, even on grocery duty as long as I can get out of the house! It's Spring time and I'm stuck indoors. I've already read half of Zexion's books and do you know how boring those are? I'm getting stir crazy!"

"Well, all the more reason to get this taken care of as soon as possible." Axel smiled and gave a slight wave. "I've gotta go make that phone call. Assuming that was the first broadcast of your face, we have to act fast before too many people can recognize you and call."

And just like that he was gone again and Xion and I were alone. She still looked upset and I didn't know what I could say to cheer her up. All I knew was that I was glad to have her talking to me again but I knew I could never tell her that.


	27. Chapter 27: This Summer

Oh man, it's been a crazy past month and a half you guys and I've been pretty down in the dumps for the majority of it.

My best friend decided to go psychopath on me and make some very strange accusations like blaming me for her boyfriend breaking up with her and even accusing me of trying to "outshine" or take her place in the art community here, the theatre community, and with her friends. All of which made very little sense considering neither of us are involved in theatre, I have my own friends and never hang out with hers and... well I AM involved in the art community (or, at least I was) but I was never trying to take her place there. In fact, often times I would hassle her to enter art shows with me because I wanted to keep her painting and doing things. As for her boyfriend, I still don't even know what the hell she was thinking with that crap because... eww. No, he's cool and all but just... just no. I'm not into ginger boys. :\

To add to that WONDERFUL stress, we just found out that my cousin has Leukemia. The whole family has been busy giving blood in her name to lower the costs of all the blood she needs and trying to organize events to help. I've personally been trying to help locate a place for her mom and dad to stay (seperately because they hate each other) down in Santa Monica now that she finally got transfered to UCLA as well as keep her spirits high. It's basically been hell but she's getting better and the early tests show positive results from the chemo-therapy.

THEN I just got back from vacation last weekend and one hell of a vacation it was. I'm glad I planned it before all the drama started because I would have never have gone otherwise and I really needed it. It lifted my spirits ten fold.

I went to see My Chemical Romance play at the Hollywood Palladium and it was... OMG beyond words you guys. I was so close to Gerard that I could see the sweat trickle down his face. And then of course as fate would have it they played "Cancer" and I cried like a baby.

The next night was Santa Monica and the Los Angeles Ballet's performance of Giselle. I got dressed all fancy and pretended to be British so that the ballet snobs would ignore my back tattoos and just think I'm cultured. To my surprise at how completely predictable they were, it worked. They literally were whispering behind me about my tacky tats until they heard me speak with a British accent and then I LITERALLY heard a man say "Oh, she's British." and then not another word. As if being British suddenly makes me classy even with tattoos. And lol, one little girl sitting next to me even asked her mom if I was a real princess after hearing me speak. XD The ballet was AMAZING and the dancers were so expressionate that I didn't need to translate any mime for my husband. He understood everything! Hooray!

THEN it was the Getty Museum the next day where some lady that worked there wanted to take a picture of me in my _#Sing it for Japan_ t-shirt and write about me in her blog (which I still need to find it and I probably should have got her name or the name of her blog)

Then shopping at Santa Monica Place on the last day. SOOOOO expensive but so worth it (BETSEY. JOHNSON. IS. MY. FAVORITE. STORE. OMFG. IF I WERE A MILLIONARE I'D SHOP THERE EVERY FUCKING DAY)

Some pictures from the trip are up on my dA and more will follow if you want to see them.

So thankfully my vacation and my cousin's improving health have me up and cheerful again. Who knows, maybe my bestie will come around and realize that I love her and that she was being a complete and total douche. Then everything would be peachy-keen.

Anyway, enjoy this chapter! More coming soon!

* * *

It's awkward sitting inside a police station. It's even more awkward when you've been accused of a crime you didn't commit. Add to that the fact that you happen to be a fugitive of the law in your own right and, well, it doesn't get much more awkward than that. Oh wait, yes it does... "You can't be fucking serious."

"You!" Teal eyes narrowed on me and I couldn't believe my luck, or really, the lack there of. "You're the supposed pick pocket?"

"Riku, pleasure to see you." I said through a stiff grin. I knew it now, my fate was sealed. There was no way Riku would let me walk. He'd slap me in irons! He'd lock me up and throw away the key! He'd... wait... "Wait, you're a _cop_?"

Riku's face paled a bit like he knew he was in trouble. That was when it dawned on me. Either he was a cop spying on the mob or a mob member spying on the cops. Oh yes, time to gain the upper hand.

"So which is it?" I asked quickly. "Are you an upstanding mafia man or a dirty cop?"

"Listen you little shit!" Riku responded, seething through his teeth. "I had to pull a lot of strings to get this job so that I could keep tabs on what the police know. You mess it up and I'll bury you deep."

I cocked an eyebrow and smirked at my rival. "How deep?"

"I'll bury you so deep in the system that by the time your big black cell mate named Bubba is done with you, you'll look like a used up condom." Riku's eyes narrowed on me and I could tell he was serious. It wasn't a pleasant thought to say the least.

"Relax, I'm not going to say anything as long as you get me out of this mess. You owe me and the others for taking such good care of Naminé." I leaned forward and looked to Riku in all seriousness. "Look, I'm in some deep shit. My older sister found me and decided that she was going to blame me for her cleptomania if I didn't go back home with her."

Riku looked at me strangely and took a seat at the table across from me. "Why wouldn't you want to go home with your sister?"

I grumbled in irritation. The last person I wanted all up in my kool aid was Riku, especially when he didn't even know the flavor. "Look, would _you_ want to go live with somebody who makes a living off of stealing people's wallets?"

Riku was quiet then and I could tell he was chewing over whether or not he wanted to say his next words. "Naminé told me what it was like there. How all of you came to be there. She said it was the saddest thing she'd ever heard. She also said that those people are the closest thing to a family you've got but... real family... that's everything. Your sister, regardless of how she makes her living is still your sister."

"That's enough. I don't want to hear it anymore. I had to hear it all from Xion and I don't want to hear any more. What kind of sister would turn her baby brother over to the cops for a crime he didn't commit, just to get herself off?" I shook my head in disgust. "There's no forgiving that."

Riku crossed his arms and leaned on the table. "You said yourself, she did it because you wouldn't go home with her. It seems to me that she was probably trying to smoke you out."

"It seems to _me_ that you're a bit of a hypocrite, Riku. You say real family is everything and yet you willingly took Naminé and her brother with you away from their parents. It looks like you really don't have a right to sit here and lecture me about family and my sister." My scowl turned into an all out feral glare. I was pretty sensitive when it came to talking about my family. "Sure, you could argue that your reasoning for keeping Naminé and her brother away from their family is to keep them safe. But who are you to say the situation isn't the same with me? You don't know what my home life was like. You don't know what kind of people my parents and sister are. So step off... and drop the charges against me. I've got better places to be than the police station. There's too many hookers here, I'm going to catch something."

Riku chuckled and I was surprised by that. He seemed to be the kind of douche that would sit there and argue for hours, but I guess sometimes I'm wrong. "Fair enough. I'll discard the information your sister gave us as evidence. We've strangely had an outstanding amount of calls claiming to have seen a dark haired young woman theiving from the patrons of the night. Your friends calling, I assume. Not to mention we've got a stack of missing wallet reports from long before you even came here. You're off, scot free."

I sighed with relief and stood slowly. "Finally! Can I go now? I'm starving."

"You're free to go. Oh, and here..." Riku dug into his pocket and handed me a coupon. "This restaurant has the best french toast in town and it's on your way out of Vegas. The waitresses aren't too bad looking either."

I curled my nose, afraid that the restaurant might also be a strip club. Nothing said Vegas quite like strippers and french toast. I accepted the coupon and trudged my way out of the interrogation room. I stepped out of the police station to see Axel and Zexion still waiting for me across the street.

"That was fast." Axel said with interest as I approached the car.

"Yeah well, Riku tried to make it as quick and painless as possible. I'm off the hook." I grumbled as I opened the door to Axel's Mustang and slumped into the back seat.

Axel and Zexion followed me into the car and looked at me curiously. "Riku? I though he was a..."

"Criminal? Yeah, but he's a plant. He lets his people know what the police know. Anyway, he sent me on my way as a favor." I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. "Can we go now?"

"Sure thing Rox, where to?" Axel turned his keys in the ignition and started the engine. "Casino or a bar?"

"No." Zexion said instantly. "We're here to take care of business, not to party."

"If you didn't come here to party, Zex then why the hell did you come along?" Axel said with a loud chuckle.

"I came because I was forced to. Let's face it, I'm at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to the responsible members in our group. That's why I always get stuck with you two." Zexion buckled his seatbelt and sighed as Axel put the car into motion. None of us have eaten in over seven hours. Let's just get something to eat. Drive thru, preferably."

"Oh no, no! Not in my car. No eating allowed in my car." Axel shook his head and started toward the freeway. "We'll stop and eat on the way."

"Oh yeah..." I mumbled quietly to myself. I pulled out the coupon that I had tucked away and stared at it. "Riku gave me this coupon for a free french toast breakfast at a place called Shari's Diner."

"Shari's Diner! How could I forget?" Axel shouted. "That place is fucking delicious!"

"Alright. We'll stop once. Only once. Then I want to get home." Zexion settled down in his seat grumpily as we drove off toward the diner. I understood how he felt. I just wanted to get back home and go to sleep. We'd left while it was still dark outside from Carson just to get here bright and early in the morning to avoid all the hussle and bustle at the police station which, in Vegas anyway, is almost always busy.

I wasn't expecting a 50's style diner but that was exactly what I got as we pulled up to Shari's Diner. Kind of a relief, no strippers in sight. We were seated in a booth near the back of the restaurant. It was busy, uncomfortably busy. There were waitresses all around but I didn't see any particularly good looking ones. Riku, the lying bastard.

I picked up the menu sitting at the table and glanced over it, though I didn't really need to. I had my coupon for a free french toast. There was a steady stream of "oooh and aaah" coming from Axel as he tried to decide on just what he wanted. Zexion was thankfully silent and seemed to decide right away what he wanted to order. I kept my eyes downcast at the menu because if I didn't I'd be forced to make eye contact with Zexion and heaven forbid he try to have a conversation with me.

Thankfully our waitress came quickly. "What can I get for you gu- oh! Hey!" She said in a familiar voice only now I was too busy looking over the omelette choices that I was considering saying to hell with my coupon.

I heard Zexion reply but it wasn't at all what I would expect to hear. "Good grief, please tell me you're not a cook here."

There was a chuckle in response. A very, very familiar chuckle that always warmed my heart each time I heard it.

My gaze flew up to see Naminé standing there in a cute little apron with her hair pulled back in a pony tail, ready to take our order. "N-naminé!" I stammered out. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a waitress, silly!" She smiled that ever cute smile of hers and once again I was putty in her hands. She turned her attention to Zexion and smiled at him too. "_Only_ a waitress. You don't have to worry. The food here is good. Although I do have the chefs give me lessons from time to time."

"Better them than me." Zexion said with a grin. "Anyway, I'll have the eggs florentine and a glass of orange juice."

"Alright." Naminé said as she scribbled down the order. "And for you, Roxas?"

"Uh... I uh, I got this coupon for a free french toast." I fumbled with the coupon before handing it to her quickly. "And can I get some chocolate milk?" I was trying not to blush. I felt silly asking for chocolate milk but it was my one true weakness no matter how childish it was.

"Chocolate milk? Sure. And what about you Axel?" Naminé turned her gaze to Axel but his face was buried in the menu and it seemed he was so consumed by what to order that he didn't even know Naminé was there. "Axel?"

"Axel!" Zexion slapped his hand on the menu Axel held and stared at him sternly. "It's time to order."

Axel looked at Zexion in annoyance before turning his gaze to Naminé. "Oh hey, Naminé! What are you doing here?"

"Welcome back." Zexion said irritably. "While you were in your own little world we clarified that Naminé is a waitress here and we also managed to order our breakfast. We're waiting on you."

"Yeesh, get the kid some coffee to get him off the grumpy train." Axel muttered. "So how've you been Naminé? Everything is going smoothly I hope."

Naminé nodded quickly and smiled. "Yeah, it's going pretty well. I'm working here during the day and going to school at night. I missed so much school that I figured it would just be easier to work on getting my GED at my own pace rather than jumping straight into High School."

Axel nodded in response. "Yeah, that makes sense. And your brother?"

"Axel, can you please just order your food!" Zexion hissed. "I'm very tired. I want nothing more than to eat and get on the road. But we can't do that if you sit here and prattle on and on with Naminé."

"Well maybe some of us miss her. Did you ever think of that, Zex?" Axel stuck out his tongue and then turned his attention back to Naminé. "I'll have biscuits and gravy. Extra bacon. And a coffee. And a glass of milk! And maybe we can talk more when you get back with the food. That way mister pissy pants over there will be somewhat appeased."

Naminé smiled and nodded before disappearing with our orders. It was an awkward sort of silence at the table as the three of us sat waiting. Before too long, Naminé returned with our drinks and eventually our food. She plopped down beside Zexion with a smile and sat down her own plate of food. "I asked if I could take my break so we could catch up. Is it alright if I sit with you guys?"

"Of course!" Axel said with a mouth full of biscuits and gravy. "You want me to trade you spots so you can sit next to Roxas?"

"No." Naminé shook her head and smiled her adorable smile. "I'm fine right here, even if Zexion does still intimidate me a bit."

The look on Zexion's face was priceless when Naminé put him on blast like that. He even looked slightly offended but he quickly put on his too cool for school scowl and glanced at her. "You _should_ be intimidated."

"Aww! I'm sorry Zexion! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings!" Naminé patted his shoulder playfully. "You were just so mean when you were teaching me how to cook. That's all!"

Zexion gumbled and began cutting into his eggs florentine. "You didn't hurt my feelings. Don't flatter yourself, you brat."

Naminé chuckled in response. "Aw, I missed you guys. I've been planning on making a trip up to see you guys once Summer break gets here. Maybe we can go to the lake again. It'll be nice, the whole family back together."

"We'd love to have you! Maybe you could even cook us breakfast for old times sake." Axel said with a loud laugh complete with flying food and everything.

Yes, seeing Naminé again was exactly the reunion it should be, full of jokes and laughter.

Except me of course... I sat quietly picking at my french toast and blowing bubbles in my choclate milk. I felt out of place and nervous which was weird. I guess I just wasn't expecting to see Naminé so soon. I was actually hoping not to considering I looked dorky as hell in the button up shirt I wore to look presentable to the cops and even my hair was slicked down and parted in the worst fashion possible.

Needless to say I wasn't feeling completely confident.

So while Axel and Naminé chatted it up and Zexion inserted a few pot shots, I sat miserably in silence. That is, of course, until Naminé asked the unavoidable question.

"So what brings you guys here?" She asked with her head cocked to the side. "Is everyone else here or just you three?"

"Classified." Zexion said before taking a dainty bite of his breakfast.

"Oh come on." Axel replied with yet another mouth full of food. This guy had no manners, I swear. "We can trust Naminé."

"No, I agree with Zexion." I said quickly. I didn't want to hurt Naminés feelings but really, the last thing I wanted was her knowing about my family. It was awkward enough with Riku knowing and I was sure he'd probably tell her eventually anyway. I didn't need a lecture from her too. "It isn't about trust. It's just one of those need to know things. She doesn't need to know. It's better if she doesn't."

"You're just saying that because it's your own dirt." Axel said with a gravy covered grin. "See, what happened is Roxas' older sister stumbled upon him while we were here for New Years. She wanted him to come back home with her, wherever the hell home is, but Roxas refused. He wanted to stay with us and she didn't like that so she turned him over to the cops for stealing a bunch of wallets which she actually took herself. There was even a warrant out for his arrest so we had to come back here and straighten it all out with the police."

"Well, I hope you turned her in. She deserves it." Naminé said oh so matter-of-factly. I was surprised, really. I expected more sympathy for my sister coming from Naminé or even the always prodding question, why didn't you go with her? I didn't expect for her to completely understand right away. "I don't care who you are or what you've been through. As an older sibling, you always look out for your little siblings! That's just the way it is! I'm glad you chose to stay where you belong Roxas. I'd be sad if I went back to visit and you weren't there."

I smiled at Naminés words and nodded slowly. She actually made me feel like I'd made the right choice when it came to staying with the lunatics. "I'm glad too."

"So we should make plans for this Summer!" Axel said cheerfully. "We can go to the lake again only this time we can stay longer than just the day. Maybe we can stay for a week. Xemnas has a cabin up there."

"We haven't stayed in that cabin since we were kids." Zexion said. "Don't you remember how small it is? There's no way we could all stay there now. All of us crammed together on the floor? It was uncomfortable enough when half of us were under five feet tall. Could you imagine it now?"

"You're still under five feet tall, Zex!" Axel replied with a grin and for the first time, I saw Zexion react in the most immature way possible. He scooped some spinach onto his fork and flicked it at Axel to which the tall red head moaned in discomfort as it slapped against his forehead. "Ack! Chill! It was a joke!" He whined.

Naminé and I could only laugh at the exchange before a little buzzer in her apron pocket went off. She sighed sadly as she pulled out her phone and looked at it. "My break is over. I gotta get back to work."

"So soon, Naminé?" Zexion asked and I was really surprised he asked. I didn't think he normally would have cared but I guess any company was welcome company when you're on the road with two people you can't stand.

"Yeah, sorry. My breaks are only ten minutes long." She stood slowly and picked up her own plate which was virtually empty with the exception of some hash browns. "But I'll be coming to visit you guys sooner than you know it. Now enjoy the rest of your meal and don't forget to tip your waitress." She said with a wink before disappearing off to the kitchen.

"Don't worry." Zexion said as he rolled his eyes. "We won't."

"What was _that_?" Axel said in an attempt at a sultry voice directed at Zexion.

Zexion cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "What was what?"

"You were totally flirting with Naminé just now!" Axel grinned from ear to ear and leaned across the table. "Don't even try to deny it! You were hitting on her like crazy the whole time!"

"If calling her a brat and talking bad about her cooking could be considered flirting then I guess I was. But it isn't, so I wasn't." Zexion took a sip of his orange juice nonchalantly and shrugged. "You're just a trouble maker."

"_You're_ the trouble maker! Hitting on Roxas' girl right in front of him!" Axel wrapped his arm around me and patted my head which was awkward to say the least. "Poor Rox, not only do you have to deal with that handsome devil Riku but now you've got the intelligent prick after your girl."

"Intelligent _what_?" Zexion shrieked from across the table but I was too busy thinking about this Summer to pay any attention to either of them as the began to scwabble back and forth.

This Summer, my birthday was coming up and I'd be spending some much needed time with Naminé just relaxing. It was all I could think about so it was all I did think about as we left the restaurant and piled into the car to head back home.

It was those thoughts of the perfect Summer to come that helped me drift off to sleep despite Axel and Zexion's continued war of words.


	28. Chapter 28: Chickens and Weiners

Wow you guys. Seriously... WOW.

I am SO SORRY I haven't updated lately. Life has just been... wow.

So I get this letter in the mail (like, tangible mail) that was all typed up nice and neat from an "anonymous ally" telling me not to be worried about the fact that my ex-best friend is hanging out with my stalker. Apparently the whole flipping out on me thing was all an act and she only did it to make the "break-up" seem convincing. According to this letter her TRUE GOAL is to find out as much as she can about my stalker and "bring her down once and for all from the inside" and that once this is all cleared up, we should be able to be friends again.

Uhm... okay, what? First of all I had no idea that they were hanging out so I wasn't concerned about that. Now that I know they're hanging out... nope. Still not concerned. WTF? Like I really give two shits about that anyway.

Do I find it weird that they hang out? Yeah, I find it weird that she would want to hang out with the person that she called CPS on (when they KNOW she called freaking CPS on them in the first place) regardless of the reason. Do I find it strange that she talks to her even though she said she couldn't stand her and that no matter what happened between us she would NEVER be her friend? Yes, that is certainly strange to me. Do I give a rat's ass? Uhm... no. Seriously, I have WAY MORE IMPORTANT SHIT GOING ON IN MY LIFE.

Which leads me to the true reason I haven't updated.

I was asked by my cousin (since I am the only reliable person in my family) to organize a fundraiser for her bone marrow transplant.

I have been planning and stressing and giving my all for MONTHS trying to raise money for my cousin and reach a goal of $5000, all while dealing with the feuding members of my family who want to help but don't want to help while certain other people are helping. Trying to appease two different groups is hard, especially when you think both groups are kinda being really big douche bags and need to get over their petty differences for a good cause.

Add to that the stress of work (and working with special needs children), the fact that my home life still isn't the same and never will be with my grandpa's passing and just a bunch of other crazy stuff that I don't necessarily have to take on but I do because I don't know how to say no... and life has just been pretty busy.

But it's slowing back down now. My cousin is close to remission. I'm going to see Foo Fighters on October 13th. I'm planning a trip to Vegas and I'm staying at the Venetian and going to see Phantom of the Opera. Things are finally going to get back in order and I'll have plenty of time to do what I love. Hooray!

So enjoy this chapter! Updates should be pretty regular from now on. YAY! :D

* * *

Summer didn't come nearly as quickly as I would have liked it to. In fact, Spring sort of droned on and on clinging to the world as long as it could. We would see tiny glimpses of Summer by early June but even then, they were scarce. It wasn't until mid-late June that things really started to warm up.

First things first, portable pool.

We got a pretty big one to go out in the barren crag of land we called a back yard. It was a lot of fun at first. At first the only people that used the pool were Demyx, Xion, Axel, Xigbar and me. But then the others started to join in and just as quickly as it had come, the fun was gone.

You may be thinking "the more the merrier, Roxas" and that I'm just a grumpy little sour-puss but then you've clearly never tried to share a portable pool with eleven men and two bitchy girls. Not to mention, a couple people never seemed to have to get out to use the restroom, ever, but I'm not naming names.

Then my birthday came. Well, mine _and_ Xion's birthday anyway. I don't know if Xion mentioned it to anybody or if they just already knew from some paperwork stored away somewhere but we had a party which was pretty fun. It wasn't anything extravagant like Christmas was but it was still a decent party. Everybody bought us a group gift which happened to be an X-Box 360 with a pack of really retro games like Super Mario Brothers and the old Sonic the Hedge Hog games installed on it. It was cool because growing up, I never got the chance to play those games.

Needless to say, Axel and Demyx spent a lot more time in my room than they normally did and I didn't mind because it was nice to have somebody to play video games with.

Then July rolled around and before I knew it, Naminé had come to visit. It was nice seeing her again, even though Riku had come along with her. We all decided to gather up our towels and swim suits and head to Lake Tahoe with an ice chest full of sodas, beer and watermelon. We sat on the beach on the 4th of July and watched the night sky light up with fireworks.

I laid back on my towel with Naminé to my right staring up at the sky. The air was warm from all the smoke and fires so we were all a little sweaty but it caused the light to glisten on her skin in the most tantalizing way.

Now, normally I would have been nervous but I was sixteen now (not to mention a bit full of some liquid courage). I needed to man up and reach out and grab what I wanted so I stood up and held my hand out to Naminé. "Hey Naminé, let's go for a swim."

She seemed hesitant but she took my hand regardless and started toward the water with me. The water was cold and it caused goose bumps to cover her skin as soon as she stepped in which was pretty cute.

I pulled her closer to me as we waded out into the water. "If you're cold just stay close to me."

"A-alright." She stammered out. She looked away from me and I could tell that she was a bit nervous but that wouldn't matter soon enough anyhow.

Once we were about shoulder deep I pulled Naminé against me and held her close. Everything was completely perfect. The fireworks from the nearby resorts were flashing brightly in the sky. I had Naminé in my arms and I wasn't one bit nervous. Well, okay maybe one bit. But aside from that, everything was perfect and I was going to use it to my advantage.

"Roxas," She started hesitantly but I had to stop her before anything she might possibly say could ruin the moment. I pressed my mouth to hers and kissed her but that seemed to be exactly what she wanted. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled herself closer until...

"Good grief, get a room!" Xion said and she accompanied the intrusive comment with a splash of water.

I grumbled and turned to face my sister only to find that she wasn't the only intruder. Axel, Demyx, Xigbar, Zexion and Riku had all come along to cramp my style. "The lake is big enough, why don't you all swim somewhere else?"

"Ah, now what fun would that be, stud?" Xigbar said leering at me. "You know it just wouldn't be any fun for us if we couldn't ruin your day."

"Yeah, figures." I muttered. I pulled away from Naminé slowly and crossed my arms.

"Don't be so down Roxas!" Demyx said as he swam over to me. "Let's just have fun!

"I _was_ having fun until you douche bags showed up." I said irritably.

"Ah come on. Don't be mad!" Axel wrapped an arm around my shoulder and ruffled my hair. "You know there was no way that Riku and Zexion were gonna let you put the moves on Naminé without coming to stop you."

"Hold it!" Zexion said as he swam over to Axel angrily. "That's not even the case. I don't care about Naminé."

"Then why did you follow us out here?" Axel retorted with a sly smirk.

"No way! Zexion is gonna be _my_ boyfriend!" Xion teased as she threw her arms dramatically around his neck. I had to admit, as irritated as I was, the look on his face did bring a slight smile to my lips.

"Careful Xion! You'll drown him if you hold onto him! He's too short to reach the bottom where the rest of us are standing!" Axel said with a loud laugh.

Alright, now I couldn't help but laugh too. Zexion was pissed and he demonstrated this by shoving Xion's head underwater and sending a tidal wave of water at Axel and me with the stroke of his arm.

"My hair! No!" Axel whined as the water covered both of us. "Do you know how long it took me to style it?"

"Maybe you shouldn't have got in the water then, huh smarty pants?" I said with a grin.

"Oh, is that so?" Axel smiled deviously and tackled me. I was laughing, which in retrospect was a dumb thing to do because as soon as we went under I got more than a mouthful. There's no telling how many kids had peed in this lake, not to mention all the fish having sex.

When we came back up I spewed the mouthful at Axel who spewed his own right back. "You ass!"

"Hey, I know! Let's play a game of chicken!" Demyx chimed in happily.

"Hell yes!" Xion added excitedly. "All you bitches are going down!"

"You're insane! Roxas and I could kick your ass any day. Right Rox?" Axel said as he slung his arm around me, suddenly a change from the playfully hostile attitude mere seconds before.

"Wanna bet?" Xion stared hard at us and she actually looked a bit frightening with the explosion of fireworks overhead. "Fifty bucks says I take you down, bitch boys!"

"Alright, tinies on top." Xigbar said as he dove underwater. When he came back up, Zexion was on his shoulders looking a little less than pleased.

"The fuck is this? Tinies on top?" Zexion crossed his arms and glared down at Xigbar. "I'm strong enough to hold up Naminé or Xion at the very least."

"Oh hell no! That leaves me stuck partnered with Demyx!" Xion screamed angrily. "That's bullshit right there."

"What's the problem Xion? You were talking some serious game a second ago. I would think a handicap would be no problem for someone like you." Axel said as he hoisted me up on his shoulders.

"Now that's enough! I'm tired of everybody treating me like I'm some retard who can't do a damn thing!" Demyx said as he crossed his arms. "Xion, get on my shoulders. These assholes are going down!"

"That's the spirit!" Xion climbed her way awkwardly to the top of Demyx's shoulders and wrapped her legs securely under his arms. "Onward!"

And just that quickly, the game of chicken began. Naminé and Riku were the first out via team Xion/Demyx. Team Zexion/Xigbar was giving Axel and I a pretty good fight until Demyx and Xion rushed at us. Zexion palmed Xion's face and sent her flying backwards in the most awesome display of fail on my sister's part. It left Axel and I pitted against Xigbar and Zexion and they both looked determined as hell to win.

Zexion and I locked hands and stared at each other, pushing with all our strength. The guy didn't look it, but he was actually pretty strong.

"Nothing personal Roxas, but I'm not letting you win. You're getting a face full of water and you've got your loud mouth friend Axel to thank." Zexion said as he shoved at me.

Axel and I had a bit of an advantage as far as height went. Axel was taller than Xigbar and that gave me a bit of leverage over Zexion but being a short guy, it probably meant that he knew how to fight from a lower angle. I just had to keep giving it my all. "Sorry, but that's not happening."

"You guys are boring! Come on!" Xion said annoyingly from the sidelines. "Do we need to up the ante a little bit? How about this? Winner gets to take Naminé on a date!"

"What?" I glanced at my sister in confusion. "What authority do you have to say that?"

"It's alright! Do it Roxas! I know you can win!" Naminé said with a smile as she cheered me on.

It definitely gave me the confidence to fight harder against Zexion but he still seemed determined. Maybe I could play the sympathy card with him. "Come on man, I _really_ like Naminé. Let me win."

"If that's the only reason you find worthy of winning then I'm going to enjoy beating you even more." The look on Zexion's face was so scary I could have shit myself which might have been funny since I was sitting on Axel's shoulders, but I digress.

He didn't look at all like he was going to take pity on me or even let me beat him by accident. I had to win on my own brute strength which I'll admit, I was a bit lacking.

"Come on you pussies!" Xion shouted up at us. "Let's raise the stakes even higher! Loser has to double date with me!"

"Gross!" I shouted back at her. "Xion! You're my sister!"

"Planning on losing, brother?" Xion said tauntingly.

No. That was it. I _had_ to win for all that was pure and good and sane in the world. I pushed at Zexion with all my might but he just pushed right on back. I tried to use my leverage to my advantage and I was sure I almost had him. That was when the son of a bitch pulled the dirtiest trick in the book.

"Hey, is Naminé taking off her top?" And just like that, he got me.

My eyes flew to Naminé who was regretfully not taking off her top. The distraction worked just long enough for me to lose my concentration and go flying backward into the water. When I surfaced, Xigbar was cheering loudly and Zexion looked pretty pleased with himself.

"That was pathetic! I can't believe you fell for that, you pervert!" Xion said as she swam over toward me. "Way to go, now we have to do an awkward double date! A date, with my brother! Yuck!"

"Well it's your fault! You should have never suggested the date thing in the first place. Just because you want to go on a stupid date with Zexion." I mumbled bitterly.

"Yeah right! I just wanted to spy on you and your date with Naminé!" Xion replied in irritation. It figures she had some childish reasoning behind it. "Look, we'll talk about this later."

"You can have the dumb date. I just wanted the victory." Zexion said almost snarkily. "Quit pouting about it. I'm sure Naminé would rather you take her on the date anyhow."

"Oh no way! Be a man Zexion!" Xigbar said as he dislodged Zexion from his shoulders and sent him falling down face first in the water. "You won, now claim your pretty little prize. Otherwise I might have to involve Xemnas and you know what a stickler he is for that sort of thing."

"Whatever." Zexion grumbled.

"Hey, is anybody else hungry? I'm starving! Let's go roast the hot dogs on the fire and have some watermelon!" Demyx suggested as he began swimming back toward the shore. The others seemed to think this was a good idea so they began to follow but Zexion stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.

"Roxas, we need to talk." Zexion looked to me seriously. "We're in serious trouble, you do realize that. Don't you? There's no way Xemnas will let us out of it."

I looked at Zexion and shrugged. "We have to take the girls out on a date. It'll be awkward but it isn't that big of a deal."

"Roxas, you may find this hard to believe but..." Zexion looked away from me in what I perceived to be a moment of embarrassment. "I've never dated anyone before."

I stared at Zexion practically dumbfounded. Really? "I actually don't find that hard to believe. Like, at all."

"Whatever. Look, I don't know what to do. Where should we take them? What do we wear? How much money should we expect to spend?" Zexion looked back at me with a bit of concern. "Are we talking hundreds?"

"If the girls expect us to spend hundreds of dollars on them, they're out of their freaking minds. All you need to know is that they'll get to choose. It'll probably be something lame like a dinner and a movie. We'll have to watch some girly chick flick bored out of our minds while they cry and blubber all over the place. It'll be totally lame, but it shouldn't cost more than forty bucks." I looked at Zexion and tried my best to smile reassuringly even though I knew this was gonna blow. Then an idea struck me. "Hey, we should switch date partners."

"What? No way! If Xemnas were to catch wind of it we'd be in serious trouble. He takes these things very seriously. But even if that wasn't an issue, there's no way I'd trade Naminé for your sister. She's much more pleasant than Xion. I won her, I'm keeping her." And just like that he shut my hopes and dreams down. I couldn't blame him. If I were in his situation I would've chose Naminé too but that didn't mean I was happy about it.

"You're a turd Zexion. I hope you know that." I said as I swam away from him. I joined the others on the shore and it seemed Xigbar had wasted no time in telling everyone about the whole date thing. Larxene was of course mocking me but I tried my best to ignore her. I stabbed a hot dog on a stick and began cooking it over the fire.

Despite that I had people laughing at me, despite that I had been interrupted while trying to make out with Naminé, despite that I had lost a game of chicken and despite that because of it, I was now going to have to double date with my sister, Naminé and Zexion... it was still a pretty good evening.

I wish somebody had told me then to suck it up and just enjoy my time. If they had done that, maybe I wouldn't have so many regrets now, but we'll talk about that later.


	29. Chapter 29: Beginning to an End

Uploading this today because I'm going to be a very busy gal this week. Monday night I'm going to LA to see my boyfriend Tim play in one of his bands (the band I haven't seen yet) and before you all scream "BOYFRIEND WTF I THOUGHT YOU WAS MARRIED!" yes, I am married. Yes, I have a boyfriend. It's called polyamory folks. It's the belief that you can be in love with more than one person and still have a safe and secure relationship with said people, as long as all parties are aware of each other. Otherwise, it's just cheating XP (I'm sure everybody has their own strong opinions about this one way or another. Keep it to yourself. Seriously.)

Then Thursday it's back down to LA AGAIN to see the Foo Fighters with my husband! YAY! I hope I'm as close to Dave as I got to be to Gerard at the MCR concert! 3

Then this weekend is the most massive private Halloween party that we have in this city. It's invitation only and my boss and I scored invs so we'll be going. I'll be Christine Daae and my husband is going to be my Phantom. :3

Needless to say I'll be a busy gal so don't expect another chapter for a while.

Speaking of, this story is coming to an end very soon! But weep not, for I have another story in the works! It's not KH though. It's actually...

Bleach. (gasp)

I know, I used to be such a Bleach hater (but really, it was the teenage fans that killed it for me) but now that it's sorta calmed down a bit I got really into it and of course I jumped full force into shipping. So my next story will be UlqHime. (Yeeeeeah... I'm THAT lame, I ship a doomed pairing)

Look for that soon, my lovelies!

Now ENJOY!

* * *

"Naminé and Riku are going back home tomorrow." Xion said with a whine. "We have to do this date thing tonight."

"I really don't want to." I said boredly as I tried to ignore my sister. I was playing Super Mario Brothers and I didn't really want to be bothered. "Let Xemnas get pissed. I don't really care. The date thing was a dumb idea anyway."

Xion huffed and plopped herself down on my bed. "It wouldn't have been if you had beat Zexion."

"Yes it would have. I still would have had the two of you tagging along with me and Naminé. That's not my idea of a fun date." I responded, only half interested in the conversation.

"Well, that was the whole point." Xion said quietly. "I wanted you and Naminé to have a fun date, but not too much fun."

Okay, now I was confused. "Come again?"

"Well, I felt bad for interrupting you and Naminé when you were kissing her. See, Axel and I have been kind of worried. We know how much you like Naminé and we're worried that you might leave for Las Vegas if things between you two... blossom. That's why we stopped you out at the lake. We don't want you getting too close. But then I felt bad because I know how much you do actually like her so I wanted to give you a chance to have some alone time with her. But then I started to get worried again so I thought of a way to make it so that I could spy on your date." Xion had my undivided attention now and she was looking at me guilty as a chipmunk.

I sat my controller down and walked over to her, whacking her on the back of the head. "You moron!"

"Ow!" Xion reached out and punched my arm. "Jerk! What was that for?"

"I'm not going anywhere!" I sat down beside Xion and looked at her seriously. "I do like Naminé. A lot. But I'm not going to move to Vegas just because of that. In a year or so I should be able to save up enough for a car. I'll be able to drive down and see her whenever I want. I don't need to move down there and things aren't even serious enough that I would want to but even if I did want to, I wouldn't leave you here dummy. So don't worry."

Xion glanced and me and snickered. "Well now I just feel like an ass."

"You _are_ an ass." I said as I nudged her. "Come on, let's go find Naminé and Zexion and figure out this stupid date fiasco you've created." I stood up and started out of my room with Xion trailing behind me. I walked downstairs to find Zexion sitting on the broken down couch with Naminé at his side peering over his shoulder. He had her laptop in his lap. I didn't know we had internet access here but then again, he might be stealing from the neighbors.

"Oh, what about that?" Naminé said excitedly as she pointed to the screen. "Mini golf sounds fun!"

"Mini golf does not sound fun. Don't forget, we'll be with Xion and any kind of competition with her sucks the fun out of everything." Zexion said dully. I couldn't help but laugh at this because he had hit the nail right on the head.

"Hey, I heard that!" Xion shouted and stamped her foot down.

"Imagine that, considering I didn't whisper." Zexion retorted sarcastically. Alright, assholeness aside I was starting to like the guy a bit. His pot shots at Axel and my sister were priceless.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I took a seat beside Naminé and tried to look at the computer screen.

"Naminé and I are trying to find a place that all four of us can enjoy on our date. She doesn't want to go the traditional route of dinner and a movie so we're trying to find other fun things to do around Carson." Zexion said as he continued to scroll down the page. "As you know, it's practically fruitless."

"Oh! Look!" Naminé shouted loudly. "A roller skating rink in Reno! That's not too far!"

"That's forty-five minutes away." Zexion said with a scoff. "None of us drive."

"Roller Kingdom?" Xion asked excitedly. "I love that place! Remember when Sora had his birthday party there Roxas? It was so much fun! That's where we should go!"

"Are you even listening?" Zexion said in irritation as he looked up at Xion. "None of us drive."

"We'll have Axel chaperon us." I said calmly. "It'll be fun. It'll just be like we're hanging out instead of a date. We have to fill paperwork out for the date anyway and we'll have to have a chaperon so we'll ask Axel."

"See? It's perfect! Yay!" Xion plopped down beside me on the couch. "I haven't gone skating since we were kids!"

"This could be hazardous." Zexion muttered but the rest of us ignored him.

I stood quickly with the girls at my heels and started toward Axel's room. I knocked on the door but before I could discover for myself, Xigbar approached us in the hall to tell us that Axel was gone for the day. "What did you kiddies need?"

"We were going to ask if Axel would chaperon us on our date." Naminé replied too candidly. Seriously, had she learned nothing from the small amount of time she had been here with us? You don't tell Xigbar anything. It just goes downhill from there.

He leered down at us with his creepy grin and leaned against the wall. "Well if it's a chaperon you want, you've got one. I have nothing better to do today and I was wanting to make sure little Zexy kept up on his end of the bargain anyway. The best part is, if you go with me you don't have to fill out one of those silly little date forms."

"Gee, thanks. But I think we'll pass." I said as I began to turn away. The last thing I wanted was Xigbar tagging along on the date. It was already awkward enough. We didn't need to bring a guy with an eye patch.

"Well who else are you gonna get to take you?" Xigbar asked. Damn him, I hate it when he makes valid points. "Nobody but Axel and me would be willing to drive around a bunch of teenagers on a date and since Axel is off visiting his brother, you're stuck with me or nothing. So which is it?"

"Please take us, Xigbar." Naminé said pleadingly. "We want to go to a roller skate rink in Reno."

Xigbar laughed loudly and ruffled Naminés hair. "Alright sweet cheeks. You girlies go get all dolled up and I'll make sure the boys are presentable."

And just like that, the girls were gone. I tried to sneak away from Xigbar but he caught me by my arm and dragged me to where Zexion was sitting. "Look, Xigbar..."

"Quiet." Xigbar turned his attention from me to Zexion and smirked. "Whatcha gonna wear on your date?"

Zexion rolled his eyes and closed Naminés laptop, setting it aside. He stood slowly and motioned to himself. His outfit was a pair of worn out jeans and an old My Chemical Romance shirt from the _Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge_ days. He was wearing a pair of mismatched socks and noticing this irked me a bit. I can't stand mismatched socks...

"Oh, don't you look dashing?" Xigbar said with a snort. "Come on, how do you expect to get a piece of ass like Naminé dressed like that?"

"Hey!" I shouted but I was silenced with a hand in my face.

"I don't want..." Zexion started but the same hand that had flown into my face was now shot over to his.

"Bullshit. Everybody wants a piece of ass every now and then. You're the only one in this house, the twins aside, that still happens to be a virgin. Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to get a date and get laid?" Xigbar said all too seriously. Okay, creep factor just went way, _way_ up.

"Your concern for my sex life, or the lack thereof is unsettling Xigbar." Zexion said. I seconded that thought.

Xigbar shrugged and smiled at us. CREEEEEEEPER... "Well it shouldn't be. I've got a bet going with Larxene. If you don't lose your virginity before your twenty first birthday, I'm out five grand."

"Serves you right for making a bet like that." Zexion said as he began to walk away. He disappeared into his room and I took this as my cue to leave too so I made a mad dash up to my room and stepped inside.

It wasn't as though I valued anything that Xigbar had to say but he did make a good point. Girls liked boys to dress nice. It may not have been important to Zexion to make a good impression on Naminé but it was to me. I put on a nice pair of jeans and this really epic shirt that had an illustration of the Norse goddess Freyja on it. I slipped on a new pair of Vans that I had bought for myself and wrestled with my hair a bit. A quick teeth brushing and I was ready to go.

I rushed back downstairs to see the girls standing beside Xigbar by the door. They looked smokin' hot and I'm not ashamed to admit when my sister looks hot, unsettling as it is. Zexion was going to look so ridiculous standing next to us in his ratty old jeans and his...

"Alright. I'm ready." Zexion said boredly.

I whirled around and stared at him in disbelief. The son of a bitch looked way better than I did. Oh sure, he acted like he didn't care what the girls thought but he sure went and changed his clothes real fast. He was wearing these jeans that probably made his ass look fantastic and if you think girls don't care what a guy's ass looks like you're sorely mistaken. He was wearing another My Chemical Romance shirt only this one was newer and fit his body more snuggly. He was wearing some Doc Martens and they were fucking clean looking. Like, I'd never seen shinier shoes.

"You look so cute!" Naminé squealed as she ran over to him. Great. Just fucking great. "Now I feel like I'm under dressed."

"You look fine." Zexion muttered as he brushed past Naminé. Good, at least he was still being a callous prick. "I couldn't ask for a prettier date."

OH MY GOD. That's it, I'm just gonna have to fucking kill him. There's no other option.

"Come on kids, let's get on the road." Xigbar said as he ushered us outside. We climbed into his Cadillac and I had to ride shotgun which I would have been relieved about if it didn't leave Naminé sitting in the back next to Zexion. I listened irritably the whole ride to Reno as Naminé and Xion talked on and on about stupid shit with Zexion inserting a few snide remarks here and there. That should have been _me_ sitting next to Naminé.

We got to Roller Kingdom and it was pretty packed full of people. On the plus side, nobody in Reno knew me so at least they didn't know that I was on a date with my freaking sister. We walked over to the skate rentals and took off our shoes. "Two pairs. Size ten for me, size eight for her."

"What size do you need Naminé?" Zexion asked to _my girl_ as he pulled out his wallet.

Naminé blushed and shuffled her feet nervously. "Size seven. My feet are kinda big."

"Not as big as Xion's apparently." The prick responded as he handed a twenty over to the man behind the counter. "She needs a size seven. That's all."

"You're not going to skate, Zexion?" Naminé asked with a sadness in her voice. I know, I know. I'm being a jealous turd for probably no reason but it bothered me that she sounded sad. It _really _bothered me.

"Come on Xion, let's go put on our wheels." I grumbled and stormed over to the benches where I sat to put on the skates. I glared at Zexion as he reluctantly removed his boots and handed them to the man on the other side of the counter. "What a push over. If he doesn't want to skate then he shouldn't skate."

"You're just saying that because you're jealous." Xion said. Oh really? What was your first clue, Sherlock? "Look, he probably just wants to keep up his end of the deal. It wouldn't be much of a date if he just sat around and watched her skate. We've got Xigbar here watching us like hawks to make sure this whole date thing goes off perfectly. It isn't like he's into it or anything. Look at how irritable he looks."

I glanced at Zexion and sure enough, he looked less than thrilled. Still, that didn't mean I was okay with this whole thing. "Whatever. Let's just skate for a few hours and head home." I stood on wobbly legs and tried to regain some form of stability. I hadn't been on skates since I was little and judging by Zexion's reaction to being on wheels, he had never worn them before in his life.

He was slipping and sliding all over the place and it would have been hilarious if Naminé wasn't the one that was trying to help him keep his balance. I watched bitterly in all my glorious jealous rage as she took him by the hands and lead him slowly to the rink. I stood and watched from the side as she lead him slowly around the rink. She was a really good skater and I wished I had her to teach me.

"You're turning green." Xion said as she nudged me. The nudge sent me toppling to the ground. What the hell was wrong with her? You don't nudge a guy with wheels on his feet! "Stop being so jealous and just enjoy the trip."

"That's easy for you to say. You're not watching the girl you care about skate around with a complete and total asshole." I said as I climbed back to my feet.

"Don't you think you're being a little silly? You don't get this upset over Riku, do you? Riku is a lot nicer to Naminé than Zexion is and I never see you act like this with him." Xion said. Oh so observant, that sister of mine.

"That's different. First of all, I'm never around Naminé and Riku at the same time. I don't have to see him interact with her at all except for a few passing words. But besides that, I think she sees him more as a brother figure. I mean, she's known him basically her whole life and he's kind of always been like a protective big brother to her. At least, that's how it sounds like she views him. I could be wrong." I turned my gaze out to Zexion and Naminé. The prick seemed to lose his footing and he went sailing to the ground, right on top of Naminé.

I wanted her to get mad and shove him off but of course she wouldn't. She was too sweet for that. Instead she laughed and stood to help him up and he was clinging to her like a rat to a sinking ship. Bastard.

"Look, are we going to skate or not?" Xion said as began tugging at me. "You can be grumpy and bitter later."

Fine... fine. "Fine!" I skated into the rink and started making my rounds with Xion trailing not too far behind. I skated over to Naminé and Zexion and chuckled. "What's wrong Zex? Can't skate?"

Zexion glared at me and if looks could kill, I would have been dead five times over. "Obviously."

"Ah, and here I was going to challenge you to a race." I said with a smirk as I circled around him and Naminé. "Maybe you should just sit to the side and let the pros do the skating."

I received another glare only this time it was coming from Naminé. "Maybe you shouldn't be so mean. Everybody has to learn sooner or later. It's like riding a bike."

"Only with eight wheels instead of two." Zexion said as he began to lose his balance again. He caught himself on Naminés arm to steady himself as he growled. "Which, by the way... nobody ever taught me how to ride a bike either."

"What a shame." I said with a wide grin. "Well, Naminé if you need a skating partner later, let me know." Yeah, I was being a dick and I was probably pissing her off. But I couldn't help myself. Sometimes my jealous side gets the best of me. I skated away from them and continued to make my rounds until the lights dimmed and the overhead disco ball started to shimmer. That was when the DJ announced my worst fear...

Couples skate.

I cringed as that horrible song from Titanic began to play and all the couples in the rink began holding hands. Of course, Naminé and Zexion were already holding hands to begin with. I skated angrily off the rink because there was NO WAY I was holding hands with my sister. I watched Zexion stumble and slip as he clung tightly to _my girl_ and let her lead him around the rink. I was about to skate back out there and take Naminé away when I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder.

"Never underestimate the power of making friends with the DJ." Xigbar said as he pulled me close against him.

I glared up and him and tried to push away but he had a tight grip on me and I couldn't really get good footing with wheels on my feet. "So this was your doing. I should've known."

"Oh don't worry. I suggested the following song especially with you in mind." Xigbar grinned down at me and I've never wanted to punch somebody so bad in my life. "You like the song _Jessie's Girl_, don't you?"

"You're an ass." I muttered. I turned my attention back to Naminé and Zexion. Naminé seemed to be enjoying herself. Thankfully the same couldn't be said for Zexion. He looked grumpy which was exactly how I wanted him to stay. I finally managed to pull away from Xigbar and rolled my way over to the snack-bar. That was when everything went from bad to worse.

"Well, well. Look what we have here." Said a familiar voice from behind the counter.

I turned my gaze to the face that the voice belonged to and saw in horror just who was standing before me. But then again, this wasn't so terrible. "Nice apron. Summer job? Let me guess, nobody will hire you back home."

"Shut your fucking mouth you little twerp." Seifer said as he slammed his hands down on the counter. "I'll kick your ass."

I looked around quickly and noticed that Rai was nowhere in sight so I turned back to Seifer and smiled. "Oh? I don't see how you're gonna manage that since your roided up friend isn't here."

The look on Seifer's face was one of pure anger but it quickly turned cold and he smiled. "So how's little Naminé doin'? She still looking good?"

"Say her name again and it'll be the last time you do it. Naminé is no business of yours, asshole." I turned away from the snack-bar but Seifer reached out and grabbed my sleeve.

"You give her a message for me. You tell her that I'm not done with her yet. Not by a long shot. We're gonna finish what we started whether she likes it or not." The look on his face was sinister and it left me with an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach.

When he released his hold on me, I skated away over to where Xion was sitting. I had a bad feeling about Seifer. Before I just thought he was some tool that liked to bully people and that was still true. Only now it seemed like there was something darker and more twisted about him and I didn't like the tone in his voice at all when he talked about Naminé.

We stayed for longer than I was comfortable with at the roller rink. Thankfully, Seifer seemed to be gone when the time came to leave. Zexion never looked so relieved to be putting his shoes on. Naminé was still at his side prattling away but I was too concerned with Seifer's cryptic message to be jealous at that moment.

We stepped outside into the darkness and Xigbar went to go pull the car around while the rest of us waited.

"I had a lot of fun!" Naminé said cheerfully. "Thank you for skating with me Zexion, even if you hated it. You were really starting to improve at the end."

"Whatever." Zexion said with a scoff as he crossed his arms.

We were almost home free and then this horrible day could just be over. Of course, nothing can ever go smoothly. I heard Naminé gasp and my eyes flew to her before they darted straight to where she was looking. Seifer was approaching us and he had a baseball bat in his hand. Great. Just fucking great.

"Hey babe." Seifer said with a smirk. "It's been a while. I had a feeling you'd be here."

I opened my mouth to speak but Zexion cut me to it. "If you have a problem, I suggest you take it elsewhere. Otherwise, you'd better be a damn good swing."

Seifer's cold gaze turned from Naminé to Zexion in an instant. "A new boyfriend? You sure do go through them fast, don't you Naminé? You like the weak ones..." He reached out to grab her and I reached out to stop him but once again, Zexion was faster.

He gripped Seifer's wrist and glared at him. "Like I said, I suggest you take your problem elsewhere."

"I'm about to..." Seifer said with a smirk. "as soon as I get my hands on her."

"That's not an option." Zexion said, his eyes more dangerous than I had ever seen them. I saw his hand slide into his pocket and I wondered what he had in there. "Turn around and leave her alone. This is my last warning."

"Your last warning, huh?" Seifer began to chuckle and I became uneasy at this point. This could only end in one of two ways and neither had a very good outcome. Seifer raised the baseball bat high but for the third time tonight, Zexion's speed bested.

Zexion had pulled out a switchblade and stabbed Seifer in the gut three times before any of us had even seen the knife. We all sort of stared in awe at the scene before us as Seifer crumbled to the ground in pain.

"Z-zexion." Naminé stepped forward and looked down at Seifer in horror. "D-did you kill him?"

"Even if he were to be rushed to the hospital right now, I doubt he'd live. His stomach is probably leaking digestive fluid all over his insides right now." Zexion stared down at Seifer with an almost inhuman glare and tucked his knife away. "I warned him to leave you alone."

"Holy shit, dude." I looked between Seifer and Zexion at a complete loss for what we should do now. "Did you really have to kill the guy?"

Zexion's eyes turned to me coldly. "He was a threat to Naminé. Would you rather I let him take her?" He then kicked Seifer's baseball bat away from us. "Should I have let him hit me and the rest of you with his bat? As I see it, I had no other option. Besides, he's not even dead yet."

It was then that Xigbar drove up on us in his Cadillac. He stepped out of the car and looked at us all in confusion. "What the hell?"

"I had no other option." Zexion said. He reached into Xigbar's glove compartment and pulled out three pairs of latex gloves. He tossed a pair to me and a pair to Xigbar before sliding his own on his hands. "You still have that plastic lining in your trunk, right?"

Xigbar snickered and opened his trunk. "Where you wanna take him?"

"The desert." Zexion said as he grabbed Seifer's feet. He looked to me expectantly so I hurriedly slid my hands into the latex gloves and helped him hoist Seifer into the trunk.

It was awkward helping load a body into the trunk of a car, especially when that body was still alive. I watched as Zexion pulled out a bottle of bleach from the trunk and poured it over the area where Seifer had bled. Something about this situation told me that this wasn't the first time they had done this. Xigbar was just way too prepared.

Zexion then quickly ushered the girls into the car. Neither one of them spoke a word and I couldn't blame them. I took my seat on the passenger side as Xigbar closed the trunk and came back to the car. We rode in silence for a long time and I could hear Naminé crying.

I couldn't imagine what must be going on in her head. I had no idea who Seifer was to her or what kind of relationship they had. All I knew was that she clearly felt very guilty about him losing his life.

I just listened to her cry knowing that she would live with this guilt forever. Finally I heard Zexion mutter an apology to her which was the least he could do and he kept repeating it until she finally stopped crying.

"I'm sorry, Naminé. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."

Yeah. I'm sorry too...


	30. Chapter 30: Unavoidable Mishaps

Yep. I got another chapter done faster than I thought. Wooooo!

Yeah, this story is rapidly closing and I'm actually excited about it. I've actually got three other stories in the plans (two Bleach, one KH) so I'm anxious to get a start on them.

Foo Fighters was AMAZING you guys, seriously. I was literally two feet away from Dave Grohl at certain times of the show. I could have reached out and touched him if the damn security guards hadn't stopped me. The party was epic (but hot) and I had a lot of fun. My boyfriend's show was even more amazing. He's so sweet and his band is fucking awesome. All in all it has been a pretty great week.

And now that all that busy shit is done with, I can just write and hopefully crank out some quality stories for you guys without having to wait months for an update.

So here is this chapter without further adieu. I hope you enjoy it! This story should be finished by Halloween. :D

* * *

It had been a week since Naminé and Riku had gone back home to Las Vegas and their departure had been anything but happy. Naminé didn't speak a single word to either Zexion or I. She barely spoke to anybody. She wouldn't even look in mine or Zexion's direction. Zexion, I understood. But me? I don't know why she couldn't look at me.

Maybe it had to do with the fact that I helped dig Seifer's grave.

Zexion and I stood side by side as we watched her leave and he was the first to admit his mistake. "I fucked up."

I glanced at him then and I couldn't say anything.

Now that we sat in front of Xemnas and Saïx, it was still hard for me to say anything.

"I miscalculated. I acted in the moment without thinking through my actions." Zexion said. "I take full responsibility."

"This was the same boy that you had a run in with at the beach, was it not?" Xemnas said as he turned his eyes to me.

I nodded quickly. "Y-yes. He didn't seem to be much of a threat at the time but..."

Saïx interrupted me with a stern gaze and crossed arms. "Obviously you were wrong and you placed yourself and everyone else in danger when you failed to mention his presence at the roller rink. You practically forced Zexion's hand."

"With all due respect," Zexion inserted. "Roxas had no control over the boy's actions. He had no way of knowing that he wanted to take Naminé and he had no way of knowing that he would use a baseball bat to do so. The only person that forced my hand was the boy I killed. I couldn't allow him to take Naminé and I couldn't allow him to hurt any of us. I wasn't thinking about the consequences. I was thinking about protecting..."

"Protecting _Naminé_, a girl who is no longer a member of ours." Saïx said snarkily. "This sickening soft spot for the girl is catching, but I never thought you would fall into it."

Zexion was silent for a moment before he turned his eyes up at Saïx defiantly. "Naminé was the boy's true goal but he would have taken out each one of us to get to her. It was my duty as the oldest member on the scene to take action, which I did."

"The only action you should have taken was handing her over. She is not our property, there was no need to defend her." Saïx said coldly.

"Are you even hearing yourself?" I shouted. Now he was just pissing me off, seriously. I was content to let Zexion take all the heat for this and just keep my mouth shut but now Saïx was going too far. "She's still a friend of ours! Besides, what do you think Riku would have done if we had come back without her? At the time, it was our only option."

"Roxas makes a very valid point." Xemnas said calmly. "Despite that the outcome is unfortunate, it seems there was no other option. The boy has yet to be reported as missing so the longer time that passes before anybody searches for him, the better. Still, we can't ignore that the root of this problem was Naminé. Until further notice, you shall both remain out of contact with her. Furthermore, she won't be welcome back here until we can be certain that this all blows over."

"What?" I looked at Xemnas in disbelief. "That's not fair! Naminé wasn't at fault at all!"

"That may be true but the girl has been more trouble than she's worth. The fact remains that she is no longer a member of our family. As such, she will no longer be welcomed as a member of our family." Xemnas narrowed his eyes at me dangerously. "That is all."

I stood stiffly and walked out of Xemnas' room with Zexion following close behind. I leaned on the railing and stared down at the first floor below in anger. This was bullshit. It wasn't fair.

"I'm sorry. I know how much you liked her." Zexion said as he stepped up beside me. "This was all my fault."

"You were just protecting her." I said. Sure, I wanted to be mad at him. I wanted to blame him. But somebody had to do something or Naminé would have been gone forever. He acted. There were consequences, severe ones, but he acted which was more than I could say for myself. "It sucks but at least she's safe."

"They act as though they've never killed anyone before." Zexion glanced at me and scoffed. "Or maybe it's just because I wasn't killing for money. I was killing to protect us. I guess that makes a difference. Fuck, Saïx is such a hypocrite. Nobody said anything to him when he killed his mother's drug dealer."

My eyes widened at hearing this. I mean, I knew these guys had probably killed people before but... "He killed her drug dealer?"

"Yeah. To protect her, I would assume. Not that she ever did much protecting of him. It was about six years ago and nobody gave him any shit for it." Zexion muttered irritably.

Six years ago, Zexion would have been about eleven or so. It was understandable that he might not know all the facts about that particular drug dealer. "Look, Zexion. I'm not trying to say Saïx isn't a hypocrite but something tells me that he didn't kill the guy to protect his mom."

"What point would he have then?" Zexion asked curiously.

"It's not important. Let's just say the guy had it coming." I turned away from Zexion and started to my room but he was quick to follow.

"What are you talking about?" Zexion asked, now prodding much more than he ever should. "You know the guy?"

"I know the shit he did to Saïx and Axel. That's all I need to know. Look, this isn't even about Saïx. The guy is a dick but in the end, Xemnas was the one that made the final decision." I sat down and turned on my T.V. ready to play around on my X-Box when the headline on the evening news caught my attention.

Missing teen presumed dead.

My heart sank. "Dude, listen." I turned up the volume on my television and stared at it in horror with Zexion quickly standing behind me.

There was a picture of Seifer on the news with the news reporter stating that he was presumed dead after a video tape was handed over from Roller Kingdom showing a stabbing take place. I could literally feel my face drain of all color as the video began to play on the news. Sure enough, there we all were standing with our backs to the security camera as it videotaped Seifer approaching with his baseball bat.

It showed the stabbing, it showed Xigbar's Cadillac, it showed us loading Seifer into the trunk of the car, the whole ordeal. Thankfully you couldn't make out our faces but it wasn't much of a comfort. "We are so fucked."

"Not necessarily." Zexion said as he hushed me with a hand in my face. "As long as they don't get Xigbar's license plate or any of our faces, we should be good since it's in black and white."

We both watched intently as the video continued to roll on and we were almost home free until the unavoidable happened. Somehow for some reason, Xion turned her face toward the security camera and it got a damn good image of her face.

"Alright, now we're fucked." Zexion said as he slammed his hand on the back of my chair. "No, _I'm _fucked. The rest of you will get accessories to murder at best but I'm going away for life! Fuck!"

"We have to tell the others." I said as I stood slowly.

Zexion had a different idea, however. He put his hand on my shoulder and forced me back down. "No, listen to me. Xion's face is going to be plastered all over the news and everywhere else imaginable right now. There is nothing they can do about it except to get her far away from the rest of us."

I looked up at Zexion with concern. "Where the hell could they possibly send her?"

"Possibly to your parents. Likely to your sister. She's become a burden to us now and it will only be damaging to keep her around. This isn't the same situation when your sister found you. This is murder we're talking about." Zexion began to pace nervously back and forth in my room. "The rest of us will have to go into hiding. Do you think we'll need to bring Naminé along?"

"I think what we need to do is tell the others. Either way, they are going to find out." I said calmly. I knew I had to be the rational one here. Zexion was the one facing the death penalty if he was convicted of murder so I couldn't blame him that he seemed out of sorts now. "They'll know what to do."

"We've already discussed what we would do if this happened." Xigbar said as he stared in at us from my doorway. "We're gonna take a little road trip. Xemnas has some property out in California in a little place called Tehachapi. We'll have to stay there and lay low for a while but I'm afraid Xion can't go."

"Why not?" I shouted as I jumped to my feet. "That isn't fair!"

"It's perfectly fair." Xigbar said as he crossed his arms and stared at me with a smile. "Unless you'd rather be locked up for an unavoidable mishap."

I wanted to protest and scream at Xigbar but I knew it would do no good. This was all clearly set in stone. I stormed out of my room and started toward Xion's. Somebody had to tell her. Somebody had to do something more.

I made my way to her room and told her everything and her reaction was exactly as I thought. She was devastated. I then retreated back to my room which was thankfully vacant now. I was trying to run over all the possible solutions in my head.

Not too long after I began to hear shuffling outside. I peered out my door to see everyone with duffle bags and suit cases making their way downstairs. It bothered me that not a single person looked my way the entire time so I went and plopped myself down in the stairs and watched them all with a cold gaze as they made their ways past me. They were going to have to deal with the fact that they were abandoning us, one way or another.

Only Axel had the decency to stop and speak to me when he noticed my lack of luggage. "You're sure you won't come, Rox?" He asked sadly as he stared down at me. "I mean, I understand why but... this fucking sucks, man."

"I'm not leaving my sister." I said plainly and stared up at him from where I sat on the stairs.

Xion had been in her room crying for the past couple of hours since I had told her what happened. But that was alright. In the time that I had sat watching the others from my perch on the stairs, I had devised a plan. I would find a way to get her to Vegas. There she could stay with Naminé until Riku could help her find Yuffie. Then she could be reunited with mom like she wanted and I would find myself a way to get out to California because despite everything, these guys were still a better option than living with my parents, even if they were abandoning us now.

Axel smiled one of those disingenuous smiles of his and knelt down. "Look, things are going to get messy. I won't lie. We haven't exactly been keeping a low profile around here and if anybody in the neighborhood saw that video on the news, they're bound to recognize Xion. It's just a matter of time before the cops swarm this place. Promise me you'll be gone before midnight?"

"I can't make any promises, but I hope to be gone." I stared at Axel calmly. I was mad but I couldn't exactly be mad at him. I wasn't mad at any particular person at all in fact, just mad. I understood that protocol and everything. These types of precautions were necessary. It just sucked. That was why I knew I couldn't ask him to drive us down to Vegas. "Look, you better go. The caravan looks about ready to leave."

Axel reached out and gripped my shoulder, his face falling to all seriousness. "What's your plan, Roxas?"

I smiled at him and gave him a sideways glance. "Ah, come on. You know I can't tell you my plan. That puts us both in a compromising position. If they catch you and interrogate you, they'll find our location for sure."

"I'm being serious!" Axel said with a sigh. "Look, at least assure me that you actually have a plan."

I couldn't tell Axel the details of my plan. If I did, he'd just offer to help and that'd put him in danger. No, this was our mess to clean up. Axel was nowhere around that night. "I do have a plan. It's not a great plan but it's the best I could come up with on such short notice. You don't need to worry about what it is. All you need to know is that you should expect me in a week or so. We'll meet outside the City Hall of that Tehachapi place exactly a week from today at 3pm. If I'm not there, come the next day and the next day. If I don't show up after three weeks then..."

"Don't. Don't say it." Axel said solemnly. "Look, take this." Axel reached into the duffle bag he'd been clutching and handed me a 35mm. "Just in case you need it, alright?" He looked at me squarely and began pointing at the stairs. "Also, starting from the bottom step, every third step has a slew of guns and other miscellaneous weaponry hidden underneath. I doubt you'll need that kind of fire power but just in case.

I smiled at Axel and shook my head. "You're a lunatic. Everything is going to be fine."

"Just be safe, alright? I don't wanna lose you guys." He reached out to ruffle my hair and he smiled another one of those sad smiles at me.

Of course I couldn't help myself in a moment of gayness. I reached out and hugged him tightly. "You're the strangest, loudest but also most awesome sort-of big brother I could ever ask for Axel. I'm really glad you hit me in the head with that baseball bat. You knocked some sense into me."

"I love you, Rox." Axel said with tears in his voice but it was quickly followed by a chuckle. "Not in a gay way though."

"No, _of course not_." I muttered with a laugh as I pulled away. "Not from an Adonis like you."

"Ha, yeah right." Axel smiled at me again as he picked up his duffle bag and turned away. "Look, be safe. Alright? I'll see you in Tehachapi."

And that was the last time I saw him. He walked out the door with the others and he didn't look back and thinking back on it now, I wish I had asked him for his help.

Maybe things would have turned out different...


	31. Chapter 31: The End

Well kiddies, we are definitely getting down to the nitty-gritty.

I tried to write a happy ending with this story, it didn't work. So no happy ending for you. Not this time anyway...

I have another KH story in the plans after my upcoming Bleach UlqHime fic so maybe there will be a happy ending that time.

But really, if you thought there could be a happy ending after all that just happened in the past couple chapters... well, I don't know what to say.

I hope you enjoy this chapter. It might not be up to par with what you expect of me and if that's the case, I'm sorry. I was really at a loss for how to end this. Let's just say it didn't end how I had originally planned it to end.

**This is not the last chapter.**

* * *

"Are you all packed and ready?" I asked as I stood in the doorway to Xion's room. She was kneeling on the floor looking depressed which was understandable. "We have to go soon. I promised Axel we'd be gone by midnight."

Xion looked up at me and sniffled. "Where are we gonna go? And what about Goofy?"

"We're taking him with us. We're hitch hiking to Vegas." I looked down at my sister sadly and sighed. "You're going to be reunited with Yuffie and she'll take you to mom. Everything is going to be okay."

The look on Xion's face turned instantly from one of anguish to one of hope. "We're gonna see mom again?"

No. There was no _we_ about it. I didn't want to see our mother but I couldn't tell Xion that. I needed this to go as smoothly as possible. "Yeah, just grab up your things."

She didn't hesitate at all as she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Alright, let's go."

We started out of her room quietly and I picked up Goofy's leash. It was in the darkness of the house that I noticed there was quite a lot of light shining through the cracks in the boarded up windows. The moon must have been full and bright. Call me superstitious but bad things always happen during a full moon so I stopped and knelt at the stairs, prying at one of the steps where Axel said I could find guns. True to his word there were about five hand guns, all with their serial numbers filed off, not to mention some other questionable weaponry.

Xion stared down at the guns quietly before reaching in and grabbing a few. "Do you think we'll need these?"

"I'm not taking any chances." I pulled out two and checked the clips. They were full. I tucked one into the waistband at the back of my pants to be accessible in case I needed it and stored the other in my bag. "Alright. Ready?"

"Where are we going?" Xion asked as she grabbed another gun and tucked it into her own waistband.

"We'll try to find a trucker or someone headed to Vegas and hitch a ride. We can't risk taking a bus. The fewer people that see your face, the better." I started toward the front door when we heard the most horrifying sound I could have ever heard in my life; the sound of a knock on the door. I froze and turned my gaze to Xion who looked absolutely panicked.

_"This is the police. We have a warrant. Open the door or we'll break it down."_

That was what we heard from the other side of the door and I about shit myself when I heard it. My plan was quickly unraveling. I hadn't expected for the cops to come so quickly, and with a warrant no less. Before my brain could even process what was going on, the front door burst open and my heart nearly stopped.

"Gottcha! Ha!" Xigbar said as he stepped into the house with Zexion and Demyx trailing closely behind. "Ah, you should have seen the looks on your faces."

I breathed a sigh of relief though my heart was still pounding erratically in my chest. "You son of a bitch."

"Ah come on. Can't a guy have a little fun?" Xigbar grinned and motioned toward the door. "Come on. The three of us came back to get you so we could take you wherever you need to go."

I stared at them curiously and blinked. "Why?"

"Because I was the one that stabbed that boy and if it wasn't for that, neither one of you would be in this situation right now. Xigbar was there and he was just as much at fault for leaving us unattended." Zexion said plainly. "Besides that, Axel kept calling my phone and whining about leaving you both behind without transportation. We decided to turn back."

"No, I mean why did you bring Demyx?" I asked, choosing to curtail my crueler comments on the matter.

"He was in the car with us." Zexion replied irritably. "He begged to come."

"That's all besides the point." Xigbar said seriously. "Where are you headed? You can't stick around here for much longer."

"Vegas." I replied calmly. "I'm taking Xion to find our sister. She can stay with Naminé and Riku until Yuffie is located and then she can be reunited with our mother. After that, there's no telling what will happen."

"Sounds like a good enough plan." Xigbar said with a grin but the look in his eye told me he didn't really believe that. "Alright, let's get on the road."

And just like that we were all crammed inside Xigbar's Cadillac headed South toward Vegas. It was about two in the morning by the time we pulled over at some rickety looking motel to stay for the night. We only rented one room to lessen the conspicuousness of our situation and we all snuck into the room quietly, Goofy included.

We sat awkwardly around the small room in silence until Demyx turned on the T.V. I looked to him curiously as he began flipping through the channels. "Are you trying to find the news?"

"No way! The news is boring! Besides, There's no use watching it and being all nervous." Demyx replied as he stumbled upon an HBO channel showing some movie I had never heard of.

"Then turn the television off." Zexion said grumpily. "We have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow. We have to head straight out to California after we get to Vegas. Xigbar needs his sleep."

"I don't mind a little background noise. It'll drown out Demyx's snoring." Xigbar said as he stretched out along the bed.

I watched as Demyx plopped down on the bed beside Xigbar and crawled under the blanket. Zexion yanked a pillow out from under Demyx's head and propped himself up in a mildly comfortable looking chair. This left Xion and I with the floor.

I looked to my sister for the first time since we had stopped but she just looked tired and worn down. I reached out and patted her arm gently. "It's going to be okay Xion."

And I wished that it was going to be okay, but it wasn't.

It just wasn't.

I drifted off to sleep sitting right there against the foot of the bed with the light of the T.V. shining on my face and when I woke up, nothing would be the same ever again.

It all happened so fast, it's still a blur to me. All I remember was that there was a loud knock on the door. I woke startled and sat up quickly to find everybody else in the room already alert and scattering.

Xigbar was peering out the window through the thick curtains and he had a strange mixture of worry and excitement on his face. "They found us." He whispered before pulling out a gun from seemingly nowhere. "Alright kiddies, here's the fun part. Get your asses out the bathroom window."

I reached into my bag and grabbed a gun. I had no idea if I'd need it and I certainly didn't want to kill anybody, especially a cop, but now was not the time for that sort of hesitation. Xion already had a gun in her hand and she was following Demyx and Zexion into the bathroom. We couldn't grab our bags, I knew that much. I could only take my money and my gun and then we needed to high tail it out of there but I had no idea how we were going to leave.

Xigbar's Cadillac was out front and no doubt swarmed by cops. There would be no using it to escape.

I followed the others to the bathroom where Demyx was hoisting Xion out of the window. He motioned for me to step up next so I did without hesitation. When I landed on the ground outside I noticed that the back of the hotel was conveniently facing an alleyway. Across the alley was a chain link fence separating us from what appeared to be a warehouse. Seriously, how much more cliché could this get?

There was a dumpster up against the fence and Zexion had wasted no time in using it to his advantage. Xion was close behind him.

I ran over to them and looked at them worriedly. "What about Xigbar?"

"He can handle himself." Zexion whispered. "Now come on before they come to the back."

But it was too late. Two cops rounded the back of the hotel and made their way into the alley. I hurriedly scaled the fence and dropped to the other side, running despite that they were shouting for me to freeze. I glanced back only for a second to see them tackle Demyx to the ground. I knew he and Xigbar were done for and now it was just the three of us.

As we ran forward into the warehouse yard I noticed there were several different buildings. Zexion was breaking windows in all of them and I couldn't figure out why until we stopped at the one furthest from the hotel and caught my breath long enough to ask. "Wh-why are you breaking the windows?"

"We need to hide somewhere near here. There's no way we can keep running on such limited sleep." Zexion said as he broke another window. "They're going to be searching for us and the first place they look is going to be the building that shows signs of forced entry. Now all the buildings show signs of forced entry and that will have to be good enough to keep them busy. I saw a rail yard not too far from here. Our best bet is to hitch a ride on a train, regardless of where it's headed. At this point we don't have much of a choice." He then stuck his hand on a piece of shattered glass and sliced it without so much as a flinch. "A little blood should help throw them off."

"Alright." I muttered. I really had no idea if any of this was going to work. I would just do what Zexion said because he seemed to know what he was doing. We started sprinting off after he bandaged up his hand and I noticed Xion was uncharacteristically silent and she had been since we'd left the house. Normally I could tell what was going on in her mind but not now. She was completely blank.

We began climbing the fence on the other side of the warehouse yard only this time there was no dumpster to give us a boost. My arms and legs were already tired and I understood why Zexion said we couldn't just keep running.

Once we were safe on the other side of the fence we continued to run. My lungs were burning as I was gasping for air and it seriously felt like my legs would fall off at any moment but I was able to keep going just long enough for us to reach the rail yard.

Zexion climbed onto a train that was stationary and Xion and I followed him quickly. Once we were inside we all were able to catch our breaths. Zexion looked to us and reached into his boot where he pulled out a gun. "Are you prepared to fight if we need to?"

My face paled as my gaze fell on the gun in his hand. "Do you think they're going to find us still?"

"They're not going to quit searching for us and there's no telling when this train will take off, if it even will take off." Zexion said calmly. He looked between Xion and me before motioning behind us. "You hear the dogs barking in the distance? They've called in their K-9 unit. They'll find us eventually so I'll ask again. Are you prepared to fight if we need to?"

I gripped the gun I had tucked in my waistband and swallowed hard. "I guess I have to be."

"And you?" Zexion asked turning his gaze to Xion but she didn't respond. She only stared down at the floor beneath us. "Xion, are you prepared to fight?" Again, no answer and I could tell that Zexion was becoming irritated. "Xion! Are you prepared?"

"No!" Xion shouted suddenly as she stood. "No I'm not! I don't want to kill anybody! I never wanted any of this! All I ever wanted was to find my mom and live with her for the rest of my life and now everything is so messed up! I wish you hadn't killed that guy! I wish my face hadn't gotten caught on that camera! Everything is so screwed up and now we're going to go to jail! But at least that way..."

"I am not going to jail." Zexion said coldly. "Frankly, I could care less what happens to the two of you. If you want to let yourselves get arrested because you think you family can help you, that's fine. But I am not getting caught. I'm not going to jail." He stood slowly and motioned for Xion to exit the cargo car in which we were taking refuge. "Maybe it's time to split up."

"We're sticking together." I said angrily. "Nobody is splitting up now. I don't want to go to jail any more than you do Zexion. We're going to stick together and we'll make it down to Vegas. We have to."

"We should have never come back for you. We should have never let Axel talk us into coming back! I don't know why we were so stupid to think that if we helped you, you could escape!" Zexion shouted but Xion was quick to silence him.

"Shh!" Xion held up her hand in Zexion's direction and scowled. "Listen! The barking, it's getting closer."

"They must have every damn cop in the state of Nevada looking for us." Zexion grumbled. "Alright, we've got to move."

I stood quickly and followed Zexion and my sister as they leapt out of the cargo car. We started to run along the rail line until I saw a train with its light beaming into the darkness. "Zexion, this train is getting ready to leave."

"We can't be sure." He muttered. "We'll just have to keep running along the rails. If it does start to move it'll catch up with us quickly but we can't stay stationary."

And he was right, we couldn't. I could hear the dogs fast on our trail followed by the police barking orders at each other. We ran along the train and as fate would have it, it started to move. I was so quick to count my lucky stars and I shouldn't have been.

Zexion climbed onto one of the cars as the train began to gain speed. He reached down to grab one of our hands and mine was the one that got to his first. He tugged me up and I thought for sure that we were going to make it. We had gotten off completely free and we were going to get away.

When he had hoisted me up I turned around and reached for Xion's hand. The train had picked up pretty good speed right now and Xion was having to run with all her strength just to keep up. "Come on Xion! Grab my hand!"

"I'm trying!" She shouted at me as she continue to run. It was then that I noticed the dogs and cops were right behind her.

I panicked because if the cops caught her, I didn't know what would happen. That was when I made the most fatal mistake of my life. I pulled out my gun and began shooting at the cops.

I don't know what I was thinking. I wasn't thinking. I was just acting, and my action caused the cops to open fire on us. I watched in horror as Xion screamed and fell to the ground. As the train picked up even more speed I could see that she wasn't getting up. "Xion!" I dropped my gun and started to jump out of the moving train when Zexion grabbed me and held me back.

"Are you insane?" He shouted at me.

"Xion... Xion got shot!" I screamed. Tears were flooding my eyes as I glanced out the open cargo door. Everything was blurry and I didn't know if it was due to my tears or the train zipping by the dark scenery. "I have to go to her!"

"Don't be stupid." Zexion said. "There's nothing you can do for her now."

"Fuck you Zexion!" I shoved him away from me and started toward the door again but I didn't get far. I felt the cold, hard metal of a gun hit the back of my head and just like that, there was blackness.


	32. Chapter 32: Why We Camp

Well, here's the final chapter guys. It's short, sweet and to the point.

I hope you enjoyed this story. It has been quite the bumpy ride to say the least! Remember, feel free to leave your reviews, they're always appreciated! But if what you're really wanting is a response from me, you should just send me a private message instead since I don't respond to reviews.

I hope you'll be interested in reading my upcoming fic which is Bleach and an UlqHime fic at that. (Seriously, I don't think I can plug this fic enough. Please read it even if you don't like Bleach/UlqHime!)

Anyhow, all that being said, I'm sad and happy to see this story end. The ending is not quite as I had planned it when I started writing it over a year ago (HOLY CRAP over a year ago!) but I think it lends itself to the events of the story and although it's short, there was no reason to drag anything out in great detail.

I hope you enjoyed this story for what it is. I thank you for sticking with it all the way through and I truly appreciate each and every one of your viewerships. Thank you. :)

Now let's end this freaking thing, SHALL WE? Wooooo!

* * *

It took us three months to reach Las Vegas. In that time we had spent most of our extra money just trying to survive. Zexion and I had both dyed our hair and cut it so short that we were barely recognizable even to each other so it was no surprise that when we stood outside Shari's Diner waiting for Naminé late one night, she didn't realize who we were at first.

"Naminé." Zexion spoke quietly.

Naminé jumped as she exited the diner, hearing her name being spoken likely not what she was expecting. The look on her face was one of fear when she laid eyes on us in the small light of the parking lot. "Wh-who are you?"

"You don't recognize us?" Zexion said with a half smile. "That's a relief, actually."

Naminé narrowed her gaze on us and inched closer. "That voice... Zexion?"

I stepped closer into the light and stared at Naminé calmly. "Hey there, Naminé."

"Roxas, Zexion!" Naminé rushed toward us and threw her arms around both of us. "Thank goodness! I've been so worried after I heard..." She trailed off sadly and smiled up at us, running her fingers through our hair. "You hair is so short and dark. You both look so different!"

"We need somewhere to stay." Zexion said bluntly as he pulled away from us. "Just long enough until I can find a way out of the country. We can't go back to the others. Xigbar and Demyx were arrested. Xion is... dead." He glanced at me but by now saying it didn't cut me quite like it did three months ago. It was a fact I had been dealing with every day now and on top of everything else we had been through, I was basically just numb to it all. "There's no way Xemnas will let us back and at this point, I'm not sure I want to go back."

"You can stay with us as long as you need." Naminé said with a sad smile. "You protected me, you both did. I got you into an awfully big mess and I'm so sorry."

"It was unavoidable." Zexion responded, a tired yet relieved look finding its way to his face. "We should be going. We don't want to raise suspicions."

"I... have a request." I started to say slowly. "And I need to know if it's possible before I go with you two." I looked to Naminé and sighed. "My sister, my older sister I mean, and my mother. Could Riku find them? _Would_ he find them? I just want... I just want to go _home_."

Naminés sad smile turned even sadder and she nodded, throwing her arms around my neck. "I promise you, I will help you find your family, Roxas. I promise."

And she did. She stayed true to her word and she used all the resources at her disposal to locate my mom and Yuffie.

They welcomed me back with open arms and I was home once again.

I don't know what happened to Naminé after that. We sort of fell out of touch. The last I had heard, Zexion had managed to make his way to some island paradise without an extradition treaty with the US and Naminé, her brother and Riku would be joining him soon but I don't know how true that is. Naminé may have just told me that to put my mind at ease but I could have cared less either way as long as she wasn't in danger.

As for the others, I assume they haven't changed a bit. Whether or not they went back to Carson City, I can't say but I'm sure they're probably still doing the same thing they always did and I wish them luck in that. I don't blame them for doing what they had to do.

Demyx got released from prison a year after he got arrested, likely because he hadn't been present for the stabbing and could only be considered an accomplice to evading the police. As far as I know, Xigbar will be serving time for the next twenty years which is actually a lucky break for him considering his involvement with disposing of a dead body.

I still think back on Axel from time to time and I'll admit I miss him but I'm glad he's not around. He was one of the best friends I could have ever wished for but he was happy with his home and the people he considered a family and if that was what he wanted, that was what I wanted for him.

Mom, Yuffie and I decided that the best move for us was to get as far away from Nevada as possible so we moved to Maine. It was quiet, calm and perfect and it gave me a lot of time to think on all the what ifs but I know that will never get me anywhere.

I know you're probably thinking, "Roxas, this ending sucks." and yeah, you'd be right. But it's what happened. There's no sugar coating here. There's no riding off into the sunset with our guns blazing and sacks of cash scattering hundred dollar bills everywhere.

This was the story of why we camp, and what happens when you skip out on that ever important camping trip. Given the chance again, if I could go back and change my mind about going on that camping trip I don't know that I would. I know there were other things that I would change in an instant but I can't change anything.

But for the people I met, for the experiences I had, I wouldn't change it for the world.

So the next time your family loads up for an impromptu trip to the wilderness for an undetermined amount of time, think long and hard about whether or not you want to go or whether you want to stay and don't be afraid to ask your parents why you camp.

Their answer may surprise you.


End file.
